God created football....
And in His thundering voice God said: 'Let us watch ...and let us perfect it!'
So they worked with it, perfecting it, Adam giving names to the various positions and teams, coming up with playbooks until it was all ready...
...and then He made Barry Sanders, for man to sit back with Him on His day of rest, drinking a few cold ones ...and He saw it was good.
(aaan Then Satan went and bought the Detroit Lions like the prick (in the finger) that he can be, and we all know what's happened since... )
BUT along that journey... before the new JOB finally had enough...
Barry Sanders was possibly the best RB who ever played the game. At least within my lifetime he was as good as Walter Peyton.
I hear that Jim Brown was outstanding but he was before my time but I have seen some terrific RB's throughout the past 52 years.
I was a senior in high school when Barry Sanders was a rookie in Detroit.
I watched him make all of the best defensive players of the day miss him, repeatedly; names such as Lawrence Taylor and Reggie White included.
I watched him disappear under a sea of his opponents uniforms just to watch him reappear and take off running for an additional 60 yards on his way into the end-zone.
....and I seen that happen numerous times.
To put things into perspective; Lawrence Taylor was the best defensive player to ever play in the NFL ...hands-down.
Barry was his offensive equivalent meaning that coaches would set their entire game-plan around those two players.
Barry was the Tom Brady of Running Backs, the L. T., the Jerry Rice.
A once in a lifetime if not a 'once ever' type of player considering his play, his class, and his affect on Lions fans who deserved that breath of fresh air after all of the seasons that they were terrible with no light at the end of the tunnel in sight.
I would have loved to have seen him in his prime w/ Megatron at his prime along with the 2023 Lions as they would have been unstoppable.
As a NY Giants fan myself I would always worry when we would play the Lions, and the Lions more or less sucked (especially after they got rid of Fontanes and numerous players that were core players) but whenever Barry Sanders was on the field they were always a risk to taking the win.
Barry got to the point he had enough I believe as Barry was all about his team winning and the Lions just weren't helping to make that happen.
That I blame on the Ford family owners.
Today it's almost unheard of to see a RB play into his thirties. Not so back then as he was considered being in his prime.
Also, today due to so many rule changes to the piont that nowadays it's closer to flag football instead of ACTUAL football.
Those rule changes also made it so it's a pass heavy game where teams run to keep defenses honest. The complete opposite as it was back then, and there was no running back by committee like today either!
In Barry's time it was a big deal for a RB to hit 1000 rushing yards on the year (fewer games too) but Barry Sanders went over 2000 yards one year and if they counted the yards he ran going east to west and back again (trying to not get tackled) instead of north-south he'd would have had 5000 yards likely as On any given play Barry would run 60 yards back and forth just to gain 4 yards, and he did it ALL the time!
Likely because his offensive line sucked (the 2023 NY GIants O-line is similar if that helps to understand just how bad it was).
Barry Sanders could have beaten Walter Peyton's all time rushing record too, but that record meant nothing to Barry so he didn't go back into the game to do it.
Nobody understood but that was just Barry Sanders. He was about the team winning and not personal rewards.
'HAVING CLASS' is what it's called.
Barry was also a true professional both on and off the field.
When he scored he acted as if he seen the end zone before, refusing to insult the integrity of the game or his own reputation like some of these clowns today who feel the need to put on a Broadway play whenever they score.
It is unprofessional and is terrible for kids to see as it teaches poor sportsmanship.
Gloating was something that punks did, not professionals.
When Barry would score? He'd simply hand the ball to the referee or toss it to him.
He acted as if he'd seen an end-zone before and would again.
It didn't matter if they were winning by 30 points or just won in overtime. Barry would show true class when he scored.
'Humility' and 'Humbleness' ....two actions that the present generation of NFL players should learn.
If they wanted to be cheerleaders they should have put a cheerleader skirt on (or whatever they wear) instead of a helmet.
This is a must see movie for all football players and fans of the NFL.
If you watched him back then it's good to see it again as there was a lot I forgot about.
If you weren't there back then it is a ABSOLUTE must to watch and I promise you that you won't look at these current players the way you did before watching Barry Sanders as most today aren't anywhere near the same league as Barry Sanders.
There is so much that can be learned, and how this man played should never be forgotten.
I have seen some outstanding running backs in my lifetime. Some of the best to ever have played the game... but there is only one Barry Sanders.
