Stephen Dubner

That was a 20-year low.

Last year, it was 43.4% run plays, and this year was up to 43.7%.

When I spoke last year with former Vikings running back Robert Smith, I asked what he thought of the uptick.

Is it possible that there might be somewhat of a return to the retro world of run first?

Brian Burke of ESPN agrees with Smith that Henry and Barclay are the exceptions that prove the rule.

But his reasoning is different, and it goes back to his military training.

I went back to my economist friend and co-host, Roland Fryer, and I asked him if a young running back came to him for advice, what would he say?

And yet, the end of your Wall Street Journal piece...

It goes like this.

The economist in me likes the results, meaning the results of your analysis, finding that running backs get paid less because they're less valuable relatively.

But you write, the kid in me hopes for a running back renaissance.

That's right.

So as, you know, as cool, calm and collected and economist acting as you are right now saying, come on, the market is the market.

There's part of you emotionally that's attached to my argument.

A hundred percent.

Market forces are real, but they're not always predictable.

So who knows what we'll be talking about in the lead up to next year's Super Bowl.

Thanks to Roland Fryer for inspiring and collaborating on this episode.

He was right.

It was a lot of fun.