Remember the tale of Samkon Gado.

It is a heart-warming narrative; The American Dream, really. Gado played running back for Division 1-AA Liberty University – the true American Dream school if there ever was one – before getting his chance to cut it in the NFL. He was a pre-med student at Liberty, still plans to become a doctor, exudes humbleness and humility at every turn and has a kickass name to fulfill Chris Berman’s wildest dreams.

After a slew of injuries at the running back position for the Packers in 2005, the undrafted rookie was thrust into the starting position for Green Bay, took the job and ran with it (all puns intended). Gado posted three-straight 100-yard rushing games, chipped in six touchdowns and was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month for November. Which everyone knows is the toughest of all the months.

Yes, it would serve Packer Backers well in these dire times to heed the heart-warming tale of Samkon Gado.

Because with running back Ryan Grant’s 1,200 yards and 10-plus touchdowns lost for the season last Sunday, cries of despair could be heard from every corner of Packer Nation.

And Grant’s exploded ankle doesn’t really matter. At all.

Grant has had a nice couple of years in Green Bay. He has totaled 3,412 yards in three seasons to go with 23 touchdowns. Not hall-of-fame stuff, but still nice.

Yet … it is imminently replaceable. Successful running backs are found in the NFL like closers in baseball, rebounders in basketball and misery in Cleveland. NFL running backs come from all shapes and sizes, from all types of schools with all different success stories. Grant himself was undrafted before Packers general manager Ted Thompson gave up a sixth round pick to pluck him away from the Giants. Rumor has it you can find 12 running backs for a mere ten cents.

And fortunately for Packer fans, Grant was nothing special. His main skill was durability – averaging 260 carries a season – and an ability to gain 4.0 yards per carry, the NFL low-standard stamp of success.

A quick look at the running backs in the NFL right now shows Grant falling somewhere in the middle of the pack of the 32 teams:

Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, Steven Jackson, Maurice Jones-Drew, Michael Turner, DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart and Jamaal Charles are no-doubt slam-dunk more valuable then Grant.

And of a list comprising Ricky Williams, Rashard Mendenhall, Frank Gore, Ronnie Brown, Fred Jackson, Joseph Addai, Marion Barber and Cedric Benson, which one of those couldn’t easily replace Grant’s production if not exceed it? For those whose eyes just glazed over the list of half of the NFL’s running backs, that makes 16 different ball-carriers who are equal to or better than Grant. Which makes half of the teams in the league. And don’t forget, all of Grant’s yards come with defense’s keying up to stop the passing game

But belittling the Packers’ halfback is not the point of this column. Revealing how little the Packers need Grant is the point (which may or may not be a nicer way of putting it. I’m not sure. Sorry Ryan.)

Of the past four Super Bowl participants only one of the eight teams had a top five rushing game – which was the Giants during the 2007 season. And they did it by committee, not with one guy carrying the load.

Two of the last eight Super Bowl qualifying teams finished dead last in the league in rushing. In this era of the NFL, the ability to move the ball is the important part – not how it gets done. The Packers aren’t suddenly going to struggle for yards with Aaron Rodgers, Jermichael Finley, Greg Jennings and Donald Driver still healthy.

Finally, there is one part of the Samkon Gado legend that isn’t well known. The Nigerian Nightmare – that nickname breaks the awesome scale – wasn’t the starting running back for much of his collegiate career.

In fact, Gado started JUST TWO games while playing four years for 1-AA Liberty University.

And he found a place to play in the NFL.

The Packers running game will be fine.

Michael Bleach is a senior majoring in journalism and wishes he had a nickname as awesome as the Nigerian Nightmare. Don’t you? Let him know why he should worry about the Packers running game at [email protected].