On this day: Barry Sanders announced retirement 25 years ago

Yesterday marked 25 years after Barry Sanders announced his retirement from the NFL. It shocked the Detroit Lions fan base and certainly football fans everywhere as Sanders was only 31-years old when he retired. I still remember being 8-years old and crying about it as I read the front page of the sports section in the Detroit News that day.

At the time of his retirement, Sanders was one season removed from being the NFL’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) and had ran for over 2,000 yards. Additionally, he was ranked second all-time in career rushing yards with 15,269 rushing yards and was sixth all-time in career rushing touchdowns with 99 rushing touchdowns. During his career, he set the following NFL records:

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• Most seasons with 1,500 or more rushing yards with five seasons.
• 14 consecutive games with 100 or more rushing yards
• 14 games with 100 or more yards rushing in a season
• 150+ yard rushing games with 25.
• 46 games with 150+ scrimmage yards
• First running back in history to have two 80+ yard rushing touchdowns in a game.

When he announced his retirement, Sanders had this to say:

“My desire to exit the game is greater than my desire to remain in it. I have searched my hear through and through and feel comfortable with this decision. (I leave) on good terms with everyone in the organization. I am not involved in a salary dispute of any kind. If I had played this season, I would have earned a more than satisfactory salary.”

To this day, Sanders still remains in the top-3 of all-time for rushing yards, rushing touchdowns and rushing attempts. Regardless of where he ends up on the all-time rushing records, the fact remains that he was and is the greatest running back of all-time.