The Detroit Lions hadn’t played a game on Monday Night Football in a decade. It’s been an exciting year so far for the fans of the Lions. It was even more exciting to see Barry Sanders come back to do the introduction for the broadcast and be an honorary captain.
I grew up watching Barry run all over defenses, embarrassing them. He’s my favorite player of all-time in any sport and I think he was the greatest running back in history.
Nick Momrik 
So as a Lions fan — what’s your take on why he retired (seemingly) so early in his career ? I always heard “experts” say it was to avoid getting traded and that he wasn’t too happy with the organization.
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Barry was always a different type of player. He never spiked a ball. After scoring a touchdown he always found the ref and handed the ball over. When he was tackled he never put the ball a yard ahead of where he went down. He had a lot of respect for the game, the players, and the referees. He didn’t care about setting records or personal numbers. He gave a portion of his salary each year to his church. Barry was a man true to what he believed in.
I think all of that contributed to his decision to retire early. There’s no question he had many good years left on the field. He would have held every rushing record in the books. He didn’t care though. Barry enjoyed playing football and wanted to win. It was obvious the Lions weren’t bringing in the talent to help him and I think he finally had enough. He probably didn’t want to get traded and end up in possibly a worse situation.
When he retired I remember being so pissed and disappointed, but I was a young kid. Looking back at the type of player he was I can understand it now. We rarely see such a class act in professional sports. Can’t have anything but respect for the guy.
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