Sanders broke his silence nearly a quarter-century later
  • bourgeoisiebrat@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    As a bears fan, sweetness is the GOAT in my heart.

    But, pure ability to rush the ball no matter what (team skill, offensive philosophy, down/distance, game situation, etc) Barry can’t be touched. He could make everything out of nothing at his discretion.

  • Empty-Ambition-5939@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Barry said at his hall of fame speech that he was sorry for all of the times he lost yards. He definitely killed drives, I remember that. You can’t get a touchdown on every touch. Just get 2-3 yrds… or 5. Just get a first down. He didn’t play like that.

  • PussSlurpee@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I never understood the details of why this was an issue or question, maybe for the contract stuff signed before the retirement. He played 10 seasons as an elite RB in the 90s. To have that level of success for a decade is amazing. Only three seasons he didn’t play every game but still more than 10/season.

  • cardmanimgur@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    CBS really gonna bring up Barry retiring during the best Lions season in 60 years. Cruel. Like telling someone “Hey congrats on your promotion, remember when your dad died though.”

  • GreenStoneRidge@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I lived in the same town as Barry as a kid. One day my brother had a baseball game at one of the high schools and me and two of the other younger brothers were out walking around. We went on the football field and there was Barry fucking sanders, doing some drills on his own.

    He was so cool to us, he said he was about to go inside and shoot some hoops and he took us with him. We spent about 30 min with him before we went back to the baseball game. I was 9/10 and didn’t fully grasp how rediculously amazing the experience was for a few more years.

    No one ever believes me when I tell them I played bball with Barry that day. But I did. And he was the most down to earth superstar ever man and he was so kind to us when he could have told us to buzz off.

    Barry Sanders for life man.

    I met herman Moore at a Burger King about 5 years later and he was also nice but nothing could compare to that random June day at Rochester Adams high School.

    • stick_around_@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      Stark contrast to my childhood story of meeting a different Barry — Barry Bonds. The guy could have been nice and just shook my hand but he was a complete asshole about it, to a little kid!

    • magnusarin@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      Oh so you’re stealing my childhood dreams. No, that’s fine. Totally cool. Barry and Herman Moore…

    • Fat_Bearded_Tax_Man@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      I ran into Gordie Howe several times in the 90’s at random fast food places. He was also a pretty approachable guy and super kind. I only bring up because of your burger King reference. I spoke with Gordoe in a long john silvers, a taco bell, and a frisch’s big boy

    • ohwudup2@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      My aunt used to nanny for a kid in his neighborhood and has a bunch of similar stories where he would spend time with kids and be present. The only thing he wouldn’t do was sign autographs in front of his kids.

    • YJeezy@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      My brother who went to college in Flint always had stories of how his friends played bball with Barry in high school and how amazing he was, including his ability to throw it down at 5’8".

  • vinegarstrokes420@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    So absolutely nothing new and Amazon made a pointless documentary on it. Cool, I’ll save some time and just watch his highlights again on YouTube.

  • Finger_Gunnz@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    He finally reveals why he retired: says exactly what he said 20 years ago. Incredible story.

  • tayroarsmash@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    You know what’s weird? Barry Sanders jumped my car at a high school football game once. I had just moved to a public school from a private school and was attending my old school’s big rivalry game as all of my friends were at my old school and I had just gotten my driver’s license. My car had manual headlights that I had neglected to turn off. Barry Sanders jr. Was running back in the game I had watched.

    So the game ended and we were all exiting. None of my friends had jumper cables and without them they couldn’t really help so people were just leaving and I was sorta freaking the fuck out because I knew my parents were going to be mad if they had to come get me (this was like my first social outing in my own).

    I see my old school’s film guy and he’s walking with another guy. I talk to our old film guy (I’d played sports for this school so he knew me) and he also didn’t have jumper cables but the guy he was with was in a rental and thought he’d have some. He did.

    So the thing is, I didn’t know what Barry Sanders looks like. Barry Sanders was a helmet and pads in either orange and black or blue and silver. I was just talking to this dude and he seemed entertained by my questions. I was asking him if his son played for the team. He said yes. I asked him what he does and he told me he owns some car lots. Yadda yadda. When my car started he asked me if I knew of any OSU heisman winners. I said yeah, Barry Sanders. That was when revelation washed over me as I knew his son had just played in the game.

    Sorta a cool interaction. Fuck your autographs Barry Sanders got my ass out of trouble.

    • Bearsh@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      I feel so dumb lol I assumed he physically leapt over your car at a high school football game for a good 10 seconds

  • blink182plus484@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    ESPN used to do mockumentary type interviews on Sunday morning countdown. They did one where Barry said “I’m tired” but they thought he said “I’m retired” so he just rang with it. 😂

  • karwintc@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    It’s really not that shocking that a Running Back retired after 10 years in the nfl. Most guys don’t last for more then 3. The freaks Can last over 10 years and be productive as a running back.

  • Muggi@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Article is more or less crap, but the videos were fun to watch again. I forgot how common horsecollar tackles used to be