Barry Sanders

Barry Sanders (born July 16, 1968) is an American former football running back who played for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons.

Sanders led the league in rushing yards four times and in rushing touchdowns once, establishing himself as one of the most elusive runners in the history of the NFL with his quickness and agility, despite being only 5 ft 8 in tall and weighing 203 lbs.

Sanders played college football for the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Sanders was born on July 16, 1968, in Wichita, Kansas, the seventh of eleven children to William and Shirley Sanders.

His father worked as a roofer and carpenter, while his mother worked as a homemaker for the Sanders family.

Sanders and two of his brothers worked as roofer's assistants to his father.

As a child, Sanders was known for having an appetite, being able to eat an entire loaf of bread in one sitting.

He would often listen to regional college sports games that his father would play on TV.

Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press wrote: "All day they would labor, with the hammers, with the tar, sweating in the hot summer sun. You did not complain in the Sanders family. Not unless you wanted a good whupping."

Sanders played football at Wichita North High School.

Before this, he enjoyed playing youth football and basketball.

Sanders started at tailback in his sophomore year in high school, but his brother Byron started before him in that position during Barry's following junior year.

When Byron graduated and left for Northwestern University on a football scholarship, Sanders was expected to start at tailback in his senior year—but instead was started at wingback—a variant of the wide receiver position.

His head coach at the time perceived that his small stature would be a liability and that he "lacked contact courage."

Besides taking part in football, he played basketball as a guard.

Table-tennis and baseball were also sports that Sanders took part in.

During this period—according to writer Samuel Crompton—the Sanders family had to "scrimp and save to get by".

Sanders did not become the starting running back until the fourth game of his senior year, when the original player was suspended for disciplinary reasons; he rushed for 274 yards and four touchdowns in that game.

He rushed for 1,417 yards on 139 rushing attempts, averaging 10.2 yards per rushing attempt, and scored 17 touchdowns through his seven-game senior season.

In the last game of the season, Wichita North's head coach, Dale Burkholder, offered Sanders more playing time in order to gain enough rushing yards to reach the state rushing title, but Sanders declined, saying it was "not important."

For his season, Sanders earned all-state honors, and was named an Honorable Mention All-American.

Although he was viewed as a stellar athlete, because of his short stature Sanders received scholarship offers from only Wichita State University, Iowa State University, University of Tulsa, and Oklahoma State University–Stillwater; he accepted the offer from Oklahoma State.

Sanders later said that his choice to play at Oklahoma State caused a conflict between him and his father.

As a junior in 1988, he compiled what is widely considered the greatest individual season by a running back in college football history, rushing for 2,628 yards and 37 touchdowns in 11 games.

He won the Heisman Trophy and was unanimously recognized as an All-American.

Sanders was selected by the Lions in the 1989 NFL draft, and had an immediate impact in his rookie season, winning the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award.

In 1991, Sanders helped lead the Lions to their first postseason win since 1958.

In 1994, Sanders was awarded the NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award (OPOY).

In 1997, he rushed for 2,053 yards in the regular season and was co-awarded the NFL Most Valuable Player Award (shared with Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre), alongside his second NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award.

Sanders was first inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1998, into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003 and in that same year inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.

While still performing at a high level, Sanders unexpectedly retired from professional football in 1999, at the age of 31, and 1,457 yards short of breaking the NFL's then all-time rushing record held by Walter Payton.

Sanders cited the Lions' front office and declining team production as reasons for his retirement.

He finished his career with 15,269 rushing yards (fourth all-time), and 99 rushing touchdowns (tenth all-time); in each of his ten seasons he was selected to a Pro Bowl and All-Pro team.

In 2000, Sanders was included in the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team, and in 2019, Sanders was named to the National Football League 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.

The Lions retired Sanders' No. 20 jersey on November 25, 2004, and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame three months prior.

A year later, Sanders was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame with former college teammate Thurman Thomas.

In 2007, he was ranked by NFL Networks' NFL Top 10 series as the most elusive runner in NFL history, and was placed No. 1 on the list of the greatest players never to play in a Super Bowl.

He is considered by many as one of the greatest running backs in NFL history.

Bleacher Report ranked Sanders No. 1 on their list of greatest running backs in NFL history.

He averaged 1,527 rushing yards per season and just under 100 rushing yards per game (99.8).