No word better described the running style of Barry Sanders than elusive. He made a poorly-run organization look respectable for a decade, something no player before or after him has been able to do. ![]() In Barry's ten years with the Lions, they went to the playoffs six times versus three playoff appearances in the 30 years before his arrival. Nothing was more electric than 80,000 fans in the Silverdome chanting, "Barry, Barry, Barry." Mom just served turkey later, waiting for me to come home in my reversible #20 Starter jersey. Sanders was so good that my parents didn't complain. I spent every Thanksgiving in the 90s at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. In the Lions first playoff win since 1957, the Lions crushed the Dallas Cowboys, capped by this ridiculous Sanders run late in the game. In 1991, three years after the Lions drafted Sanders, the Lions posted the best record in franchise history at 12-4, behind Barry's 16 touchdowns and 1,548 yards. The loudest crowd that I can recall was at the Silverdome for the last game of 1997, when Sanders broke 2,000 yards rushing and willed the Lions into the playoffs. He made a play against the Chicago Bears where he disappeared behind 4-5 defenders and somehow spun out for a long score. He once put a move on Hall of Fame cornerback Rod Woodson that ended Woodson's season with a torn knee ligament. Watching Barry dodge tacklers was like watching Neo dodge bullets in The Matrix movies. It was like watching an adult play freeze-tag with 4-year olds, except Barry was playing against elite athletes with Olympic-grade speed. We would rewind the tape during commercials to see how many defenders he clowned. In a city associated with jokes about crumbling buildings, gun violence and losing sports teams, Sanders gave us something to be proud of.Įarly in his career, you couldn't look up his highlights on the internet, so we taped every game. ![]() ![]() Barry did all of this in our beloved Honolulu blue and silver.
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