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Barry Sanders was born on July 16, 1968. He was the seventh of eleven kid children. His father was very high on discipline so there were only two rules in his house. Rule one: don't disobey dad. Rule two: don't forget rule number one. Barry was not thought of as the best athlete in the family, that honor was his older brothers until his first pee wee game in which he scored three touchdowns in the first half because he was running past everyone. |
| While all his friends in high school would party and drink all night Barry would study and work out with his brother. It paid off when he lettered in football and basketball all three years he played both sports. |
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During high school the coach wanted to put Barry at running back but because his brother was playing there he didn't want to take the spot from him. He didn't play running back until the sixth game of his senior season. In the six games remaining he piled up over 1400 yards averaging about 230 yards a game. |
| Although he only played in six games as a starting running back in high school he still was able to earn a full scholarship to Oklahoma State University. He was the back up to their star rusher Thurman Thomas until he graduated. By the third game Sanders had 695 yards rushing and nine touchdowns. The press was naming him the most explosive player the game of football has ever seen. |
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With all these headlines, Barry was the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. While he was over in Japan playing the annual international bowl he won. Although he wasn't there he watched over satellite television and giving most of the credit to his offensive line. |
| After his Heisman winning season Barry had to make the decision to go to the NFL or go back to school. Barry opted to go to the NFL and help out his family financially so he entered the draft. He was selected in the first round by the Detroit Lions and received a $2.1 million contract. |
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| In his career Detroit was not a very strong franchise. But this didn't stop Barry, he is now third all time behind Jim Brown and Emmit Smith. The amazing statistic is that Barry only played eight seasons in the NFL compared to fifteen that Emmit Smith played. If he would have played that long he would have easily had the all time leader in rushing record. |