In the early 2000s, during an autograph session in a mall near Northbrook Court, a shopping center in the Chicago Suburbs, the Lions‘ legend, Barry Sanders, found himself signing helmets. A girl walked to him and asked, “So you play football?” While the ink of his autograph was still dying, a confused Barry looked up to see if the girl was serious. She indeed was. “Used to,” Barry replied. Fast forward almost 2 decades, the legend sat down for an exclusive chat with EssentiallySports to share some of the hits and misses from the game he loved.
But before that, let’s take you on a Barry journey. He walked away at the pinnacle. Over 15,000 rushing yards, ten seasons of elite production, and just 1,457 yards short of Walter Payton’s all-time record. His father, William, hailed it as a remarkable farewell: “God, I’m so proud of him,” he quoted in Barry’s documentary, Bye Bye Barry. “The average football player would have been trying to set records and trying to hang on. And he walked away at the height of his career…. That really takes guts.” Fans
But narrative isn’t everything—Barry’s clarity spoke volumes. He summed it up with brutal honesty. “My desire to exit the game is greater than my desire to remain in it. I have searched my heart through and through and feel comfortable with this decision.” That wasn’t just retirement—it was a masterstroke of control. At the crossroads of legacy and labor, he chose peace over pressure—a decision no stat line could quantify.
Nearly three decades after his unexpected retirement, if you ask Barry if he regrets his decision, he won’t hesitate to straight-up claim, “I don’t regret it.” In an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports, the Lions legend sat down with our host, Andrew Whitelaw, and talked about his surprising retirement decision. When Andrew asked about his desire to exit the game, and if that decision still sit right with him when he looks back, Barry honestly responded: “Yeah, I’m proud of, I’m proud of the decision that I made.”
The legend continued: “I’m, I’m happy that, you know, I had to sort of mindset to walk away from the game at that point in time. I don’t regret it. It was a tough thing to do, honestly, you know, tough, tough thing to [do] for a lot of reasons. I do miss the game to some degree. But I think those words still, still pretty much ring true.” By the time Barry Sanders stunned the football world by hanging up his cleats, the writing was on the wall. At least for those paying close attention.
Despite Sanders racking up 1,491 yards in ’98, the Lions stumbled to a 5-11 finish, falling just one season after a hopeful 9-7 playoff run in ’97. In truth, Detroit had been sliding for a while. From 1996 to 1998, they alternated between false hope and frustration, posting records of 5-11, 9-7, and 5-11 again. In contrast, Barry lost his faith in his team and took a crucial decision at the pinnacle of his career.
“For me, that thing that drove me to continue to play, which was that passion, just wasn’t there. There was nothing really left to play for. I didn’t see us as any sort of serious Super Bowl contender. I felt able-bodied, sound mind, certainly not according to my dad. But I felt like I had a sound mind and was making a pretty clear decision. I just felt like, in my mind, this is pretty much it,” Barry opened up about his retirement in his documentary.
Barry didn’t retire because he wasn’t durable. He retired because, despite his ability to perform, the Lions kept failing. During his ten years with the Lions, the team’s record was 78-82, and they had five winning seasons. Things worsened from there, the moment he hung up his cleats. In the next decade, they were 48-112 and had just one winning season. No wonder Barry stepped down at the time when he was inching toward Walter Payton’s record. Like he said during the ES Exclusive… Breaking the record would have been top of his priority list!
Barry Sanders closed in on Walter Payton, then stepped away
If there’s anything that Barry Sanders was well-known for in his NFL days, it was stepping away from the titles. It all started in his rookie season. In the season-ending game, the Lions were monitoring the Chiefs‘ former RB, Christian Okoye, who at the time tied with Sanders for the league rushing title. When the Chiefs wrapped up their game, Okoye was ten yards ahead. Sanders just needed two rushes to get the rushing title and $250K bonus, with 9 minutes remaining in the game.
Kevin Glover, the former Lions’ center, echoed in the huddle, “Ten more yards and you’ve got it.” Sanders’ response? “Oh really?” He said. “You know what? It’s not even that important.” And just like that, he let Okoye keep the rushing title. Fast forward almost a decade, and he made another decision. He stepped away from yet another achievement when he unexpectedly retired, within 1,457 rushing yards of Walter Payton’s career rushing mark of 16,726 yards.
US Presswire Sports Archive Nov 22,1998 Tampa,FL, USA FILE PHOTO Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions in action against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. The Lions won 28-25. Tampa Florida USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xUSAxTODAYxSportsx 2120240
“You came close to breaking Walt Payton’s rushing record before you retired. Is there anything you would change?” Andrew asked Barry in the EssentiallySports Exclusive interview. Barry straight-up claimed that just having his name mentioned in the same breath as Payton was an accomplishment in itself. “I don’t know, I mean, I love watching Walter as a kid. I never would have imagined that my name would be mentioned in the same name as his, in the same sentence as his, you know,” he said, laughing.
“So, that in itself is almost an accomplishment, you know, not to avoid the question. But yeah. And so, I felt like, you know, being in that, I think when I retired, I was number three or number two on the list or something like that. And yeah, I don’t, I don’t have any regrets as far as that.”
Barry Sanders retired with 15,269 regular season rushing yards, making him the second all-time leader in NFL rushing yards, just behind Payton, at that time. Fast forward to now, he still ranks among the top five (4th) all-time rushing yards leader. Just behind Emmitt Smith (18,355), Walter Payton (16,726), and Frank Gore (16,000). That said, as surprising as his retirement was, it felt like a continuation of a pattern. Barry Sanders never chased milestones; he walked away from them.
The post Exclusive: Lions Legend Barry Sanders Confirms Stance on Major Regret After Early Retirement appeared first on EssentiallySports.