Barry Sanders Barry Sanders ( born July 16 , 1968 ) is a former American football running back who spent his entire professional career with the Detroit Lions of the National Football League . A member of both the college and professional football halls of fame , he was ranked by " NFL Top 10 " as the most elusive runner in NFL history , and also topped their list of greatest players never to reach the Super Bowl . Averaging over 1 , 500 rushing yards per season , Sanders left the game just 1 , 457 yards short of being first place on the list for the NFL all - time rushing record at that time . Early years . A Wichita , Kansas native , Sanders attended Wichita North High School . Sanders started at tailback his sophomore year , but took a back seat to his brother Byron the following year . Sanders did not become the starting running back until the fourth game of his senior year . He rushed for 1 , 417 yards in the final seven games of the season , which earned him all - state honors . During that seven game span Sanders averaged 10 . 2 yards per carry . He was , however , overlooked by most college recruiters . Although he was a stellar athlete , Sanders only received scholarship offers from Emporia State , Tulsa , and Oklahoma State . College career . Sanders played for the Oklahoma State Cowboys from 1986 to 1988 , and wore the # 21 . During his first two years , he backed up All - American Thurman Thomas . In 1987 , he led the nation in yards per kickoff return ( 31 . 6 ) , while also rushing for over 600 yards and scoring 8 touchdowns . Thomas moved on to the NFL , and Sanders became the starter for his junior year . In 1988 , in what has been called the greatest individual season in college football history , Sanders led the nation by averaging 7 . 6 yards per carry and over 200 yards per game , including rushing for over 300 yards in four games . Despite his massive workload of 344 carries , Sanders was still used as the team ' s punt and kickoff returner , adding another 516 yards on special teams . He set college football season records with 2 , 628 yards rushing , 3 , 248 total yards , 234 points , 39 touchdowns , 37 rushing touchdowns , 5 consecutive 200 yard games , scored at least 2 touchdowns in 11 consecutive games , and 9 times he scored at least 3 touchdowns . Sanders also ran for 222 yards and scored 5 touchdowns in his three quarters of action in the Holiday Bowl - a game that was not included with his season statistics . Sanders won the Heisman Trophy as the season ' s most outstanding player . Sanders played in the same OSU backfield with future Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy , who was the starting quarterback . He then chose to leave Oklahoma State before his senior season to enter the NFL draft . College statistics . " Source : " Professional career . The Detroit Lions selected Sanders with the 3rd overall pick in the 1989 Draft , thanks to the endorsement of then - coach Wayne Fontes . The Lions ' management considered drafting another Sanders , cornerback Deion Sanders , but Fontes convinced them to draft Barry Sanders instead . He was offered # 20 , which had been worn by former Lions greats Lem Barney and Billy Sims ; Sims was one of the league ' s best running backs in the early 1980s , and Fontes had requested Sanders to wear the number in tribute to Sims . Though there were concerns about his size , it turned out these concerns were unfounded . Sanders was far too quick for defenders to hit solidly on a consistent basis , and too strong to bring down with arm tackles . Though short at 5 ' 8 " , his playing weight was 203 lb ( 91 kg ) and Sanders had a large portion of this weight in his exceptionally large and muscular legs , which provided him with excellent acceleration and a very low center of mass ; his weight was also the same as Walter Payton and only slightly under the NFL average for a back . In contrast to many of the star players of his era , Sanders was also noted for his on - field humility . Despite his flashy playing style , Sanders was rarely seen celebrating after the whistle was blown . Instead , he preferred to hand the ball to a referee or congratulate his teammates . In 1989 , Sanders missed his rookie year training camp due to a contract dispute . He ran for eighteen yards his first carry during the regular season , and scored a touchdown on his fourth . He finished the season second in the NFL in rushing yards and touchdowns after declining to go back into the regular season finale just 10 yards shy of the rushing title ( later won by Christian Okoye ) , and won the Rookie of the Year Award . Barry was the featured running back on the Lion teams that made the playoffs five times during the 1990s ( 1991 , 1993 , 1994 , 1995 , and 1997 ) . He was a member of the 1991 and 1993 squads that won the NFC Central division title ; the 1991 team won 12 regular season games ( a franchise record ) . In 1994 , Sanders rushed for 1 , 883 yards , on a 5 . 7 yards per carry average . He also totaled 283 receiving yards , which gave him a combined 2 , 166 yards from scrimmage for the season . He was named the NFL ' s Offensive Player of the Year . In 1995 , Sanders posted 1 , 500 yards rushing with 398 receiving yards , beating his rushing total alone of the ' 94 season . In 1996 , Sanders rushed for 1 , 553 yards with a career - low 147 receiving yards . Sanders ' greatest season came in 1997 when he became a member of the 2000 rushing yards club . After a start in which he gained 53 yards on 25 carries in the first two games of the season , Sanders ran for an NFL record 14 consecutive 100 yard games , including two 200 yard performances , en route to rushing for 2 , 053 yards . In reaching the 2 , 000 yard plateau , he became only the third player to do so in a single season and the first since O . J . Simpson to rush for 2 , 000 yards in a span of 14 consecutive games . He was the first running back to rush for 1 , 500 yards in five seasons and the only one to do it four consecutive years . At the end of the season , Sanders shared the Associated Press ' s NFL Most Valuable Player Award with Green Bay QB Brett Favre . In Sanders ' last season in the NFL , 1998 , he rushed for 1 , 491 yards , ending his four - year streak of rushing for over 1 , 500 yards in a season . Despite his individual success , the Lions never reached the Super Bowl while Sanders was with the team . The closest they came was in the 1991 season . Aided by Sanders ' 1 , 855 combined rushing / receiving yards and 17 touchdowns during the season , they recorded a 12 – 4 record and went on to defeat the Dallas Cowboys 38 – 6 in the divisional playoffs , which still stands as Detroit ' s only playoff victory since defeating the Cleveland Browns to win the 1957 NFL Championship . The Lions lost to the Washington Redskins 41 – 10 in the NFC Championship Game , and Sanders was held to 59 total yards in the game . In Sanders ' career , he achieved Pro Bowl status in all of his 10 seasons . Sanders was named first team All - Pro eight times from 1989 – 1991 and 1993 – 1997 and was named second team All - Pro twice in 1992 and 1998 . Sanders was also named All - NFC from 1989 - 1992 to 1994 - 1997 . Sanders was named Offensive Player of the Year in ' 94 and ' 97 , NFL MVP in ' 97 , and was named to the 1990s NFL All - Decade team . " Sports Illustrated " writer Paul Zimmerman wrote : " It doesn ' t matter where the play is blocked ; he ' ll find his own soft spot . . . The scheme doesn ' t matter with Sanders . He can run from any alignment . While other people are stuck with joints , he seems to have ball bearings in his legs that give him a mechanical advantage . . . Sanders ' finest runs often occur when he takes the handoff and , with a couple of moves , turns the line of scrimmage into a broken field . . . Nobody has ever created such turmoil at the point of attack as Sanders has . . . Knock on wood , he seems indestructible . . . " Retirement . Sanders announced he was quitting pro football . His retirement was made public by faxing a letter to the " Wichita Eagle " , his hometown newspaper , on July 27 , 1999 . He left football healthy , having gained 15 , 269 rushing yards , 2 , 921 receiving yards , and 109 touchdowns ( 99 rushing and 10 receiving ) . He retired within striking distance of Walter Payton ' s career rushing mark of 16 , 726 yards . Only Payton and Emmitt Smith have rushed for more yards than Sanders . Sanders ' retirement came somewhat unexpectedly and was a matter of controversy . Two years earlier , Sanders had renewed his contract with the Lions for $ 35 . 4 million over six years with an $ 11 million signing bonus . The Lions demanded that he return $ 5 . 5 million of the bonus . Sanders refused , and the Lions sued . On February 15 , 2000 , an arbitrator ruled that Sanders had to immediately repay $ 1 . 833 million , or one - sixth of the bonus , with the remaining bonus to be repaid over each of the three years Sanders had left on the contract provided he stayed retired . Before the ruling , Sanders offered to pay back the entire $ 5 . 5 million in return for his release from the team . The Lions refused , stating they would welcome Sanders back to the team ; otherwise , they would honor his announced retirement . Sanders ' agent David Ware lobbied the team to trade his client . However , it had been a long - standing practice for the Lions to not accommodate players ' requests for trades , and other teams were reluctant to discuss Sanders while he was still under contract . Several years after retirement , with repeated refusals to discuss the abruptness of it , Sanders finally admitted that the culture of losing in the Lions ' organization was too much to deal with , even though he said that he could still play and that Detroit had made the playoffs in five of his ten seasons . The Lions ' went 5 - 11 in the season before his retirement . He explained that it robbed him of his competitive spirit , and he saw no reason to believe things were going to improve . When Detroit drafted quarterback Charlie Batch in the second round of the 1998 NFL Draft and it became apparent that Batch would become Detroit ' s full - time starter the next season , Sanders seemed unwilling to embrace yet another change in the Lions ' seemingly endless carousel of quarterbacks and offensive philosophies . He had also gone on record to criticize Detroit ' s front office ( most notably Chuck Schmidt ) for releasing Pro Bowl center Kevin Glover for salary cap reasons . Glover was an underrated player and close friend of Sanders . He stated there were tears in his eyes as the Lions lost in the playoffs to Tampa Bay in 1998 , because he knew in his heart he was never going to play another playoff game for Detroit . " I sobbed for 3 months , " Sanders said . It was thought by some that Bobby Ross himself may have actually been the reason for his early retirement . Sanders , however , debunked this theory in his autobiography " Barry Sanders : Now You See Him " , saying that Coach Ross had nothing to do with his quitting and actually praising him as a great head coach . He also said Ross was a very snappy dresser . NFL stats . Rushing Stats Receiving Stats Personal life . Sanders ' s son , Barry J . Sanders , committed to Stanford University for the 2012 - 2013 college season after a highly successful high school career : as a freshman in 2008 , Barry ran for 742 yards and twelve touchdowns while helping Heritage Hall School to the 2008 Oklahoma 2A state title , and he was the only sophomore on the 2009 " Tulsa World " all - state team . Sanders ' s ex - wife , Lauren Sanders , is a news anchor for WDIV in Detroit . With his ex - wife , he has three sons : Nigel , Nicholas , and Noah . In February 2012 , Sanders filed for divorce from his wife after ten years of marriage . After football . Sanders introduced ESPN ' s " Monday Night Football " game between the Chicago Bears and the Detroit Lions on October 10 , 2011 . In April 2013 , Sanders made it to the finals in the EA Sports " Madden NFL 25 " ( " 2014 " ) cover vote by beating Ron Rivera in Round One , Marcus Allen in Round Two , Ray Lewis in Round Three , Joe Montana in the quarter - finals , and Jerry Rice in the semi - finals . He then went on to beat Adrian Peterson to become the next cover athlete .