Arguably the greatest football player to ever play for the Detroit Lions, Barry Sanders shocked everyone in the world when he announced his retirement before the 1999 season.
Sanders seemed to be in the prime of his career, so his decision was shocking. After accumulating more than 15,000 running yards over the course of ten NFL seasons, he left the league. Many people questioned what motivated the running back to give up playing football.
Lions supporters now have additional information about Sanders’ exit courtesy to a recent documentary.
The topic of Bye Bye Barry on Amazon Prime is Sanders, who is 55 years old. He talked about why he decided to retire in the documentary, which was made available to the public on Monday night.
At the time, his choice to retire seemed strange because he was getting close to breaking Walter Payton’s all-time NFL rushing record. He came up 1,457 yards short of breaking Payton’s record with 15,269 career rushing yards.
Instead of holding a press conference, the running back decided to send out a fax to announce his retirement. After that, he traveled to London, which he and his boys replicate in the documentary.
Sanders thought back on the emotions that kept him away from the game when he was seated in a theater.
“I mean, I think about how much football I had played at that point, how much I had invested myself in the game,” Sanders stated. The motivation that kept me playing, that enthusiasm, was absent for me. Really, there was nothing left to compete for. We weren’t even a legitimate Super Bowl contender in my opinion. In my opinion, I was mentally and physically sound, unlike my father. Nonetheless, I thought I was making a very clear decision and was of sound mind. I simply had the impression that this was it.”
Sanders declared that he had not given thought to leaving the Lions to play for another team. It has long been believed that the Lions’ dismal record played a significant role in his retirement decision.
In the documentary, he went into further detail about this in a talk with his sons. They went to London together, just like he had done when he decided to retire.
“I couldn’t simplify it just to say the losing, because we had been losing for many years,” Sanders said. “Obviously, though, the goal of playing is to win. I would have needed to have had the same drive to keep playing. I had a gut feeling that this was it.”
The in-depth look at Sanders’ life elsewhere illustrates his childhood. The narrative covers his high school years and his illustrious time at Oklahoma State, where he was the 1988 Heisman Trophy winner. It also looks back on his ten exceptional years as a Lion.
Many well-known Detroiters who looked up to the running back during his explosive career have shared their insights. Actor Jeff Daniels, singer Eminem, and basketball player Jalen Rose are among those included.
Herman Moore and Lomas Brown, among many other former colleagues of Sanders, are also included and share their recollections with the 2004 Hall of Fame inductee.
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