The legend Barry Sanders turned 45 today, and to celebrate we wanted to look at some of Sanders’ best moments on the field.
Sanders grew up in Wichita, Kansas and played high school football before enrolling at Oklahoma State. Many schools passed on Sanders because he was only 5’8”, but the young running back made them all regret their decision soon enough. After backing up Thurman Thomas for two seasons, Sanders unleashed one of the greatest statistical seasons of all time during his junior year, averaging 7.6 yards per carry and over 200 yards a game. He finished the season 2,628 rushing yards, 3,248 all purpose yards, and 39 touchdowns, all NCAA records. Sanders also won the Heisman that year, obviously enough.
That same year Sanders declared himself eligible for the draft, and the Lions selected him third overall. He was an immediate impact in the league, and in his rookie year he finished second in the NFL in rushing yards and won Rookie of the Year.
Sanders played 10 seasons in the NFL, all with the Detroit Lions, before quietly announcing his retirement in a fax to his local newspaper. He rushed for 15,269 yards in his career, never finishing a season with less than 1100 yards, and eclipsing 2000 yards in the 1997 season, when he finished with 2053 yards. Sanders averaged 5.0 yards per carry for his entire career, and averaged 99.8 yards per game over his entire career. Sanders was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2004. The man was a boss, basically.
No comments:
Post a Comment