Barry Sanders Retired From the NFL After a Shocking Realization During a Game
Barry Sanders left the NFL before he could reach a monumental goal and break an astonishing record. So, what drove the football player to retire?
For 10 seasons, Barry Sanders dominated the NFL while playing for the Detroit Lions. During that time, he amassed a devoted fan base until he totally ditched the competitive scene.
Immediately, Barry showed great promise. He won NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year after being drafted to the team in 1989. By 1994, he won NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award. As he continued to rack up awards, he climbed to the top of athleticism. Eventually, he was given a spot in the coveted Pro Football Hall of Fame. Fans always wonder why Barry retired when he did at just 31 years old, despite his success.
Why did Barry Sanders retire?
Why did Barry Sanders retire?
In 1999, Barry shocked the world by handing in his letter of resignation. More accurately, he sent a fax to a local paper, The Wichita Eagle. It contained the announcement that he would be stepping away from football. Prior to this, there wasn’t much of an indication that fans would never see him on the field again.
Unlike many athletes, Barry didn’t hold any sort of retirement press conference to clue the world in on his mindset. “My desire to exist the game is greater than my desire to remain in it,” he cryptically wrote in his press release.
“Management had let quality players slip away. We’d been losing for years,” Sanders later wrote in his book, Now You See Him. “Now we were right back where we were when I arrived.” Barry was basically confessing that part of the issue was with the Detroit Lions themselves.
He also described in his book the moment he knew his time in the NFL was over. During a game against the Baltimore Ravens, the Lions were losing by 9 points, but that specific game was just one of many terrible ones for that season. “I was crying because I knew it was over,” he said of the moment.
