Yeah. But at least this kid has real talent and could be something special. Its rare that kids of famous great athletes do well in the pros. Seems like little Barry has a chance to be pretty good. Some of his plant and goes looks like his dad though.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-h...-Backward-Runs


I can't embed but here's the video.

I saw 3 or 4 plays in that video that would lead to 15 yards personal foul penalties now.

My all-time favorite player to watch. No one ever has or ever will run like him.

And from that link, Barry Sanders lost 110 yards per season. The great "only get's positive yards" Walter Payton lost 64 yards per season.

Barry Sanders is getting a lot of love in this thread. I was a big fan of his until he decided to totally **** over his team and his fans by abruptly retiring at the start of training camp without even bothering to tell ANYONE. He just fled the country without telling anybody where he was. The Lions opened training camp, and the big question was "Where is Barry Sanders?". After everyone wondered for several days what the hell had happened, he FINALLY faxed a letter to his hometown newspaper announcing his retirement.

He walked away from football at the age of 30 and still in the prime of his career. I'd be just fine with that if he'd had the guts to tell his team that he was going to do that. But he didn't. He was a total coward who showed a complete lack of respect for his team and his fans. The Lions gave him an $11 million signing bonus as part of his $35 million contract just two years prior to that, and they deserved better than that.

That single act destroyed the goodwill of a lot of fans of his.

You mean the way teams cut players all the time with no warning?

He had hinted at retirement prior
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From what Barry has shown, he's been one of the classiest players in the league. I will choose to give him the benefit of the doubt on believing that he had excellent reason to retire from football. He lost his love for the game, and didn't want to continue doing something he didn't love doing. Honestly I wish a lot of other players would take this route so teams aren't wasting money on players who no longer care.
Barry wanted to win a championship, and the team was never in a position to even sniff that, despite what Barry did to help out.

I read a bit of his book, but that was years ago.

I was at that game sitting in the end zone. I've never seen a guy make starts/stops/cuts like Sanders. I didn't appreciate it until I saw it with my own eyes. It was a complete contrast to Okoye and Word that just pounded on people.

Something that has always struck me was the difference in Barry the college runner vs. Barry the NFL runner. He ran primarily behind a fullback at Okie State and was much more north and south. He also was a phenomenal goal line back at O State.

I think the Lions misused him actually. They should have scrapped the run and shoot and given Barry a run blocking o-line and fullback. The majority of his Lion's career he was forced to improvise given the pass happy nature of that offense. Their offense wasn't built for short yardage situations either, which is why his TD numbers were never on par with Smith's. In 97, when they gave him a fullback a fair amount of the time, he went for 2,000.

If Barry had found himself behind a line like the early 90's cowboys, early 00 chiefs, late 90's broncos... The rushing record would be north of 20,000 yards.

They didn't cut Barry Sanders. They gave him a $35 million contract. I think he could have bothered to pick up a phone and tell them he wasn't going to play anymore instead of being a classless dick about it.