Barry Sanders, a Wichita, Kansas native and one of the best running backs to ever wear an NFL jersey, made his retirement announcement in July 1999, surprising many fans. One of the first public releases was by fax, sent to and published by his hometown newspaper, The Wichita Eagle.
A question Sanders is often asked: Would he handle his retirement from the Detroit Lions and the NFL differently?
“I don’t know,” Sanders said. “In today’s world, I would have sent a tweet or something or danced on TikTok. I mean, who knows?”
Why Sanders walked away from football is a central question in his new documentary “Bye Bye Barry,” released Tuesday on Amazon Prime. What comes across in the film – and in my conversation with the Hall of Fame running back – is that he has no regrets about giving up 1,458 yards before passing Walter Payton, which was then the NFL’s all-time rushing record was.
With 15,269 rushing yards, Sanders now ranks fourth all-time behind Emmitt Smith, Payton and Frank Gore.
Sanders retired after 10 seasons with the Lions after posting an All-Pro season in which he ran for 1,491 yards. He had just turned 31 and seemed to still have a lot of good football left in him.
Instead, he decided he was done.
Sanders remains one of the sport’s biggest what-ifs, something the documentary reminds viewers of in many ways surrounding his Lions career.
What if Sterling Sharpe hadn’t been left open in an NFC Wild Card game at the Pontiac Silverdome on January 8, 1994, defeating Detroit 28-24? Can the Lions make a deep playoff run after this?
• What if the Lions had found a Hall of Fame quarterback to match Sanders?
• What if the Lions front office had taken coach Wayne Fontes’ advice in 1992 (according to Fontes in the film) to sign Joe Montana? Or Warren Moon, who joined the Minnesota Vikings in 1994? This revelation made Scott Mitchell, the great free agent quarterback signing of his era, publicly unhappy. Mitchell went on a Facebook rant praising Sanders but also expressing his thoughts on those who didn’t think he was a good quarterback.
• What if the Lions had held together the core of the team that reached the NFC Championship Game in Sanders’ third season (1991-92)?
• What if Sanders had played the 1999 season? Would he have overtaken Payton this year? Could he have kept playing and surpassed the 18,000-yard mark like Smith eventually did?
Only Michael Jordan’s first retirement in 1993 was more shocking. However, Jordan returned to the Chicago Bulls less than two years later. Sanders never returned to the Lions, who had a winning record in five of his 10 seasons.
Sanders believed it was time to revisit all of this in documentary form. He said now was the opportunity to tell the story through the words of his family and friends. He wrote a book in 2003, but this is the first time in this cinematic format that he tells his story from his point of view.
“You have a little bit more perspective after not having anything as unique as professional football for over 20 years in terms of the way I was able to play it and the success that I was able to enjoy,” Sanders said. “And it was also the way I retired. For those reasons, I just think it was a story that fans might want to hear.”
Barry Sanders (center) with his former teammates Lomas Brown (left) and Chris Spielman at the world premiere of “Bye Bye Barry” at the Fox Theater in Detroit. (Rick Kern/Getty Images for Prime Video)
The how remains something that annoys some. Some might understand why. The Lions never had consecutive good seasons.
But a fax to the Lions (and the hometown newspaper) and then a trip abroad? That bothered a lot of people, and that’s addressed in the film.
The most telling part of the retirement decision comes from a conversation between Sanders and his four sons in London – the city Sanders visited instead of going to training camp before the 1999 season. In the film, we learn why Sanders decided to go to London, how he knew in the middle of his final season that he was probably done playing, and that he never considered playing for another team.
Sanders remains a big name in Detroit, where he still lives. And the impact he had on fans remains strong. Rapper Eminem appears in the film and said that “tears” and “devastation” come to mind when you think of Sanders’ resignation. Actor Tim Allen’s thoughts at the time were, “What the hell are you doing?” Journalist Jemele Hill said some Detroit fans sympathized and wished they could divorce the Lions and go to London too.
The frustration with the franchise runs deep. Despite seemingly being postseason-bound this season, the team has not won a playoff game since Detroit’s only postseason win against Sanders on January 5, 1992.
Despite this long gap in success, many still love Sanders — even those who never saw him play. Sanders said he meets kids who weren’t alive when he played but knew him from the Madden video game. He hears from adults who were young when he retired who talk about what he meant to them and to Detroit.
Sanders said he wasn’t sure of the cultural impact of his career, but it was obvious. Rapper Wale released the song “Barry Sanders” in 2011. And when retro jerseys became fashionable, many clamored for Sanders’ number 20 jersey.
Sanders said the film is an opportunity to reintroduce his story to casual and hardcore football fans.
“Just give them a good 360-degree view of these things,” he said. “I hope they had a good, positive cultural impact, and I hope the documentary goes a long way toward achieving that.”
As for why Sanders retired? He still wouldn’t change anything.
(Top photo: Rick Kern / Getty Images for Prime Video)