Best NFL Players of All Time: Barry Sanders. Ranking the Top Players in History. Place a bet on an NFL football game now.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Barry Sanders

Saying that Barry Sanders was the NFL’s most elusive running back in the years following World War II is not bold. Sanders was perhaps the most elusive player in NFL history, but it would be unfair to compare him to Red Grange, who, when George Halas sent him on a barnstorming tour throughout the nation in the 1920s, was practically the make-or-break player in the league. But Grange played with a damaged knee for the most of his career after the trip concluded.

Sanders was a bit of a throwback in that he didn’t care about endorsements, notoriety, or self-promotion—he was just interested in playing the game and running the football. Making potential tacklers miss was something he was interested in doing. His ten-year career with the Detroit Lions was a monument to his agility, explosiveness, and ability to confuse opposing defenders. He was as good as any back who has ever played at creating explosive plays.

Sanders’ Heisman Trophy victory at Oklahoma State served notice, but the NFL is full with Heisman disappointments. Sanders charged into the game, knowing full well that his ability to abruptly change course would humiliate opponents. Sanders had the ability to physically leap clear of an approaching tackler.

His lateral quickness was unmatched by any player, which is partly why he was able to make so many excellent defensive players seem so dumb. When Sanders first entered the league, Vince Tobin was the Chicago Bears’ defensive coordinator, a role he held until the 1992 campaign. Despite being one of the best defensive game-planners of his age, he saw Sanders twice a year during his first four seasons and believed he would never be able to stop him.

Tobin stated, “You could devise the most effective strategy against Barry and manage to keep him confined for the first three quarters of the match.” But then, with his strong legs and knack for getting out of sticky situations, he would make things happen. He might make a lane for himself by jumping sideways. How could you get ready for something that no one else could do? He is confined and you are ready to crush him when he leaps sideways out of the path. That was something no one else could do, and I doubt anybody else will.

Sanders did more than just annoy coaches. Hall of Fame players became awestruck, obedient fans under his tutelage. Marcus Allen, a fellow Heisman Trophy winner, was an outstanding running back for the Raiders and Chiefs. He will always be associated with his game-winning 74-yard touchdown run for the silver and black in Super Bowl XVIII vs the Washington Redskins.

“They would come to the Lions and Barry, and I would be watching the highlights on Sunday night,” Allen recounted. I would be standing there with my mouth hanging open while they showed one of his runs. I was unable to watch another one when they showed one. I needed to make a phone call. I may give Eric Dickerson or someone else a call again. “Hey, Dickerson, did you see what he did this time?” I would ask. That’s how excellent he was. I never would have considered doing that with another person.

Although the late Walter Payton was always full of confidence, his assessment was unwavering when he witnessed Sanders running with the ball. Payton declared, “He was the best I ever saw.” “I was inferior to him.” I was unable to perform the tasks that he could.

Only Walter Payton and Emmitt Smith have more NFL rushing yards than Sanders, who is in third place all-time. Before the 1999 season, he suddenly announced his retirement, having accumulated 15,269 yards. He concluded that it was not really vital for him to beat Payton’s record of 16,726 yards, and in the end, Smith—who entered the NFL a year after Sanders—surpassed Payton’s total.

In 1997 alone, Sanders had the most yards rushing with at least 100 yards in 14 games—the most ever in a single NFL season. In his career, he recorded 76 100-yard games, second only to Payton’s 77. In every season he participated in, he ran for at least 1,100 yards and scored 109 career touchdowns (of which 99 came from rushing).

Middle linebacker Mike Singletary of the San Francisco 49ers made it into the Hall of Fame while playing for the Chicago Bears. Between 1989 and 1992, Singletary faced Sanders eight times, which was plenty to persuade him that Sanders was one of the greatest players of all time.

Singletary remarked, “We really didn’t pay much attention when we heard there was this back in Detroit who was pretty elusive. We had a pretty good defense with the Bears.” “We weren’t going to let a collegiate celebrity worry us. However, it was immediately apparent that we had not prepared well enough when the first game began. He was too explosive and too fast. We never treated him lightly again after that first game, but it didn’t really matter. He hit us repeatedly and knew what it takes to make big plays.

It wasn’t just his size that was an issue. Sometimes we were unable to locate him behind the line of scrimmage. At five feet eight inches, he was skilled at making himself appear even shorter. There was no way you were ever going to be able to catch him, therefore it only took a second to terminate him.

Sent away from the game, Sanders never returned, frustrated at the lack of progress the Lions had achieved despite his ten brilliant years. Sanders believed he had done enough, but Detroit fans wanted nothing more than to see him play again and don his No. 20 suit.

“What made me retire?” Sanders enquired. “I wanted to play, but I also wanted to not play. It really was that easy.

Sanders went away from his job with $20.9 million in salary on the table. “I’ve never regretted my decision, even though it might not have been the best one from a business standpoint.”

Best NFL Players of All Time: Barry Sanders Stats

Regular Season

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	1D	Succ%	Lng	Y/A	Y/G	A/G	Tgt	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD	1D	Succ%	Lng	R/G	Y/G	Ctch%	Y/Tgt	Touch	Y/Tch	YScm	RRTD	Fmb	AV
1989	21	DET	RB	20	15	13	280	1470	14			34	5.3	98	18.7		24	282	11.8	0			46	1.6	18.8			304	5.8	1752	14	10	14
1990	22	DET	RB	20	16	16	255	1304	13			45	5.1	81.5	15.9		36	480	13.3	3			47	2.3	30			291	6.1	1784	16	4	16
1991	23	DET	RB	20	15	15	342	1548	16			69	4.5	103.2	22.8		41	307	7.5	1			34	2.7	20.5			383	4.8	1855	17	5	15
1992	24	DET	RB	20	16	16	312	1352	9			55	4.3	84.5	19.5	40	29	225	7.8	1			48	1.8	14.1	0.725	5.6	341	4.6	1577	10	6	12
1993	25	DET	RB	20	11	11	243	1115	3			42	4.6	101.4	22.1	48	36	205	5.7	0			17	3.3	18.6	0.75	4.3	279	4.7	1320	3	3	10
1994	26	DET	RB	20	16	16	331	1883	7	76	44.7	85	5.7	117.7	20.7	65	44	283	6.4	1	16	32.3	22	2.8	17.7	0.677	4.4	375	5.8	2166	8	0	20
1995	27	DET	RB	20	16	16	314	1500	11	72	42.4	75	4.8	93.8	19.6	70	48	398	8.3	1	17	35.7	40	3	24.9	0.686	5.7	362	5.2	1898	12	3	16
1996	28	DET	RB	20	16	16	307	1553	11	81	50.2	54	5.1	97.1	19.2	32	24	147	6.1	0	6	37.5	28	1.5	9.2	0.75	4.6	331	5.1	1700	11	4	14
1997	29	DET	RB	20	16	16	335	2053	11	86	45.1	82	6.1	128.3	20.9	50	33	305	9.2	3	12	42	66	2.1	19.1	0.66	6.1	368	6.4	2358	14	3	19
1998	30	DET	RB	20	16	16	343	1491	4	65	38.8	73	4.3	93.2	21.4	57	37	289	7.8	0	10	31.6	44	2.3	18.1	0.649	5.1	380	4.7	1780	4	3	13
Career					153	151	3062	15269	99	380	44.1	85	5	99.8	20	362	352	2921	8.3	10	61	35.4	66	2.3	19.1	0.693	5.1	3414	5.3	18190	109	41	149

Playoffs

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	1D	Succ%	Lng	Y/A	Y/G	A/G	Tgt	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD	1D	Succ%	Lng	R/G	Y/G	Ctch%	Y/Tgt	Touch	Y/Tch	YScm	RRTD	Fmb
1991*+	23	DET	RB	2	2	23	113	1			47	4.9	56.5	11.5		9	45	5	0			10	4.5	22.5			32	4.9	158	1	0
1993*	25	DET	RB	1	1	27	169	0			44	6.3	169	27	3	2	0	0	0			0	2	0	0.667	0	29	5.8	169	0	0
1994*+	26	DET	RB	1	1	13	-1	0		0	7	-0.1	-1	13	5	3	4	1.3	0		0	3	3	4	0.6	0.8	16	0.2	3	0	0
1995*+	27	DET	RB	1	1	10	40	0	2	60	9	4	40	10	3	2	19	9.5	0	1	66.7	11	2	19	0.667	6.3	12	4.9	59	0	1
1997*+	29	DET	RB	1	1	18	65	0	3	27.8	15	3.6	65	18	7	5	43	8.6	0	2	42.9	15	5	43	0.714	6.1	23	4.7	108	0	0
Career				6	6	91	386	1	5	26.8	47	4.2	64.3	15.2	18	21	111	5.3	0	3	33.3	15	3.5	18.5	0.693	5.1	112	4.4	497	1

 

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