Oklahoma football: Ranking the Top-7 Sooner RBs of all-time

KANSAS CITY, MO - DECEMBER 4: Adrian Peterson #28 of the University of Oklahoma Sooners carries the ball against the University of Colorado Buffaloes in the Big 12 Championship game on December 4, 2004 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Oklahoma defeated Colorado 42-3 to win the Big XII Championship. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

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No. 3 — Joe Washington

Barry Switzer said, “He was my greatest player,” which shows how dynamic “Little Joe” Washington was in the 1970s. Washington was a pivotal part in Oklahoma’s back-to-back national championships the Sooners won under Switzer in 1974 and 1975. The 5-foot, 9-inch bolt of speed ranks third on the all-time Sooners rushing list with 4,071 yards, while averaging 6.3 yards per carry.

“He’s probably the fastest man in the world for 15 yards. Then he stops and sort of shakes himself and, bam, he’s off again for 15 of the fastest yards you ever saw. His style is not at all like Greg Pruitt’s. You could see Pruitt ignite, see an afterburner go off in his tail, and he’d keep moving faster and faster,” Barry Switzer said.

No other way to put it, “Little Joe” was clutch on the biggest stages. Washington was drafted 4th overall in the 1976 NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers. He would go on to have to have 10-year pro career and would be named a Pro-Bowler in 1979. In 2005, Washington was elected into the College Football Hall of Fame.

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