SANDERS, Barry

(b. 16 July l968 in Wichita, Kansas), premier college and professional football running back, winner of the Heisman Trophy, and one of the leading rushers in the history of the National Football League (NFL).

Sanders is one of the eleven children of William "Willie" Sanders, a construction worker and maintenance engineer, and Shirley Sanders, a homemaker. Barry Sanders had a troubled childhood. Something of a bully who frequently had fights, he also stole candy and threw rocks at cars. But the values of his parents finally prevailed. He also learned the virtues of hard work in the classroom and in sports at North High School in Wichita, Kansas.

As a youngster, Sanders began perfecting a running style for which he later became famous. Playing sandlot football, he learned to make lightning cuts, to run fast laterally, to stop suddenly, to accelerate rapidly, and above all to do whatever else it took to avoid a tackle. His high school coaches, however, were not impressed. They believed he was too small to play running back, so they turned him into a defensive back. Only in the last five games of his senior season in 1985 did he get a shot as a running back, and he averaged a phenomenal two hundred yards a game. Though not widely recruited as a college prospect upon his graduation in 1986, Sanders entered Oklahoma State University (OSU) that fall on an athletic scholarship. He chose OSU primarily because he wanted to major in business, and he had heard that school had a first-class business college.

At OSU, Sanders was still underrated, this time because two good running backs were ahead of him. One was Thurman Thomas, who won some All-America honors and became an all-pro running back for the Buffalo Bills. Used mainly as a kick returner, Sanders had a respectable freshman season and began a program that increased his leg strength and his weight from 175 pounds to 200 pounds.

For most of his sophomore season Sanders ran behind Thomas while continuing as a kick return specialist. Sanders increasingly rotated into games as a running back and had three 100-yard games out of the last four. The year was highlighted by a Sun Bowl victory over West Virginia University by a score of 35 to 33, and Sanders was named an All-American as a kick returner. The fast finish set the stage for a brilliant 1988 season. With Thomas now running for Buffalo, Sanders came into his own as a quality back who could handle the football. He set thirty-four National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) records. He broke the rushing record by gaining 2,628 yards on only 344 carries, an astounding average of 7.6 yards per carry. In 4 games he went over 300 yards in rushing, an almost unheard of feat. Counting kickoffs and passes caught, he had 3,250 all-purpose yards for another NCAA record. His 39 touchdowns shattered yet another milestone. For the season he was the player most responsible for the OSU 9–2 record and a big win over Wyoming in the Holiday Bowl, a 62–14 blowout. Sanders's brilliant year virtually guaranteed him the Heisman Trophy as well as first-team All-America. The modest young man accepted the Heisman award but credited his offensive line and his blocking fullback for the honor.

Drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1989, after his junior year at OSU, Sanders made his mark in professional football his first year. Despite injuries that forced him to miss two complete games and parts of two others, he broke the Lions rushing record, gaining 1,470 yards, second in the National Football League (NFL), and averaging more than 5 yards per carry. His fourteen touchdowns were another Lion record. For his feats Barry was named the NFL Rookie of the Year and was selected to the all-pro team. His second year was also stellar with 1,304 yards and more than a 5-yard average per rush. He won the rushing title in 1990 and came in second in 1991 by gaining 1,548 yards. In the latter year he was also chosen NFL Player of the Year.

One good season followed another. Sanders won the rushing title again in 1994, 1996, and 1997. He was the National Football Conference's Most Valuable Player in 1994. In 1997 he was again NFL Player of the Year, and that year he churned for 2,053 yards, which then ranked as the second-best rushing season ever.

When Sanders retired abruptly just before the 1999 season, his rushing total stood at 15,269 yards, then an all-time second to Walter Payton, who rushed for a record 16,726 yards during his career with the Chicago Bears. No one could explain Sanders's sudden retirement while still in the salad days of his career and making millions of dollars to boot. Rumors held that Sanders became dissatisfied with playing on a lackluster team, that he wanted to be traded to a team that could contend for a Super Bowl victory. Yet Sanders made no serious attempt either to return to the Lions or to join another team. Even his father could not convince him to return to professional football. Perhaps interested parties should have believed what Sanders said, that he wanted to do other things. Could that explanation be true? Most likely. Sanders had never cared for records, for he was always willing to share glory with his teammates. Apparently he played the game for as long as it was fun for him. When it was no longer fun, he walked away. He never showboated, he never spiked a ball, he never danced on the field, he never taunted other players, and he never argued with referees. In 2000 he married Lauren Campbell, a Detroit newscaster. Even though he cut his career short, Sanders will long be remembered as one of the best running backs of all time, perhaps even the best of all time.

Biographies of Sanders include Nathan Aaseng, Barry Sanders: Star Running Back (1994); and John F. Wukovitz, Barry Sanders: 20 (1997). Also informative is Michael Wibon, "Barry Sanders: Beyond Compare," Washington Post (9 Nov. 1997). Sanders's seemingly abrupt decision to retire is discussed in Leonard Shapiro and Mark Maske, "Lions' Sanders Retires from NFL," Washington Post (29 July 1999). Also see Drew Sharp, "Sanders Says He's Happy and Enjoying Retirement," Seattle Times (20 Aug. 2000). Good websites are <http://barrysanders.hypermart.net> and <http://www.keyworlds.com/b/barry_sanders.htm>.

James M. Smallwoodm