OT: Need a smile? Watch 3 minutes of Barry Sanders in high school
A day, for many, of angst and misery, when the refreshing taste of autumn football grows bitter like a stale beverage.
For those that need an infusion of joy, or just a reason to smile, there is a ray of light:
3 minutes of Barry Sanders high school highlights.
Jake Trotter dug it up for this article about Barry's Heisman season.
A memory of simpler times. Barry is still the best.
August 23rd, 2018 at 1:33 PM ^
It's one thing to make high school defenders look silly, but what he did to nfl defenders is flat out ridiculous. Simply the best
August 24th, 2018 at 1:08 AM ^
"There hasn't been a second Barry Sanders, and there probably never will be."
Darn tootin'.
Bless ya, Barry.
August 23rd, 2018 at 1:35 PM ^
I think I saw a second and third shooter on the Grassy Knoll...
August 23rd, 2018 at 1:35 PM ^
That DID make me smile. What a talent. Also, he actually looked big in high school. His size, or lack of it, was never a factor as he progressed through the ranks. I am so glad that as a long-suffering Lions fan, we still had the opportunity to watch Barry. Thanks for posting this.
August 23rd, 2018 at 1:39 PM ^
Greatest pure running back ever, love to watch that guy run.
He was 'slow' in high school too I see. This is why 40 times are over-rated for running backs.
August 23rd, 2018 at 2:31 PM ^
He ran 4.3 so not slow
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:18 PM ^
Flat.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:24 PM ^
Barry has a personal best, hand-timed 4.24 40. Only a few WRs and DBs were faster in his day; Darrell Green and Deion Sanders come to mind (and Bo Jackson - straight line speed). Barry was both quick and fast. You must be confusing him with Emmit Smith.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:48 PM ^
No way Barry Sanders was a true sub 4.4 guy. He was always in danger of getting caught from behind even in this high school video. I don't care what scouts say they timed him.
Best lateral agility / stop and start probably of all time though
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:35 PM ^
RE: Barry's 40 time: I don't know what it was. I think 4.4-4.3 is very possible. Here's the thing:
He WAS often in danger of being caught from behind on long runs. But the reason we know that is because he broke for long runs so frequently. It's possible that no other player was so frequently in a position to be chased for 50+ yards.
The problem was that his top end was just a tick lower than some of the DBs chasing him. No real shame in that--DBs have always been fast (Darrell Green, for example, was the fastest guy in the League for years) and Barry's top end was limited by his size and his stride.
But what made him fast, and what would be reflected in any 40 time, is that, among other dazzling attributes, he accelerated to top speed as quickly as anyone ever has. He was basically running full speed by his second step. Combine that with his peerless lateral moves and defenders could not recover once he got a step past them.
Top level Olympic sprinters reach their top speed at between 50-70 meters in the 100-meter dash. Barry would not be a good 100 m sprinter--his top speed simply wouldn't be good enough. But he reached that top speed extremely quickly. Only over 50, 70, 80 yards could an opponent spool up his own speed and possibly catch him.
And only because Barry was so brilliant at getting those first 50, 70, and 80 yards do we even have reason to know this.
August 23rd, 2018 at 5:11 PM ^
So I thought about this: Did we have more opportunities to see opponents try to catch Barry Sanders? Statistics say, yes. NFL.com's stats site begins tracking rushes of over 20 and 40 yards in 1991 (crucially missing two of Barry's prime years, which makes the following even more impressive).
I compiled stats from some crucial RBs from that same time period. How does Barry stack up?
From 1991-1998, Barry Sanders gained over 20 yards on 113 separate rushing attempts; he gained more than 40 yards a mind-blowing 42 times.
The only guy even in the same league is Adrian Peterson, who has totals of 106 and 32, respectively. Emmitt Smith? 94 and 17. Terrell Davis? 39 and 11. Ladainian Tomlinson? 85 and 23. Marshall Faulk? 67 and 20. Frank Gore? 88 and 19. Chris Johnson? 78 and 21. Shaun Alexander? 64 and 17. Marshawn Lynch? 50 and 11. Jamaal Charles? 49 and 16.
Barry leaves these guys in the dust with, literally, two years tied behind his back.
August 23rd, 2018 at 1:40 PM ^
The cut he makes on the second highlight is ridiculous.
August 23rd, 2018 at 1:52 PM ^
And, like other runs, the entire run he makes beginning at :51 is just absurd.
August 23rd, 2018 at 1:41 PM ^
He had two D1 scholarship offers, OK State and Tulsa.
August 23rd, 2018 at 2:58 PM ^
Oklahoma State was the first to get his highlight tape and the coaches wouldn’t give it back because they didn’t want other to see it. Eventually Barry’s high school coach told the OSU coach that if they didn’t give it back he would talk Barry out if going to OSU. Tape was back the next day. Also, OU’s coach didn’t care to watch the tape because OU was already loaded at RB.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:32 PM ^
"I really must do copies!"
August 23rd, 2018 at 1:45 PM ^
When the NCAA games had All-Time teams I had a friend go for 500+ yards against me with Barry on Oklahoma State
August 23rd, 2018 at 1:46 PM ^
Oklahoma State had both Barry Sanders and Thurman Thomas.
Those two players combined for over 27,000 rushing and 7,300 receiving yards in the NFL.
August 23rd, 2018 at 2:32 PM ^
There were report from opposing team that they should not injure Thurman Thomas in fear of having to face Barry full time. Imagine saying it when Thurman Thomas is a future Pro Bowl NFL RB and Barry is a better RB than Thurman.
August 23rd, 2018 at 2:34 PM ^
Double post so I present you a picture of a Fat Mac dancing
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:05 PM ^
If Barry cared about records he would have had them all.
August 23rd, 2018 at 1:50 PM ^
Damn that dude could change direction like nobody. Otherworldly combination of vision and ability to cut on a dime.
August 23rd, 2018 at 2:03 PM ^
Inhuman:)
August 23rd, 2018 at 2:09 PM ^
The cameraman stinks, but on the other hand, could you hold still watching that guy run?
August 23rd, 2018 at 2:40 PM ^
I think it’s the same camera used today every time there’s a UFO sighting.
August 23rd, 2018 at 2:10 PM ^
1:32 wait.... he got tackled????
August 23rd, 2018 at 2:21 PM ^
Thanks.
That was awesome. Definitely smile-worthy. He was such a dazzling runner.
August 23rd, 2018 at 2:23 PM ^
Those poor high school kids would have had more success trying to tackle a ghost
August 23rd, 2018 at 2:26 PM ^
I don't understand why he's not making spectacular runs for no gain in any of these.
August 23rd, 2018 at 2:42 PM ^
Well isn’t that something?
August 23rd, 2018 at 2:55 PM ^
Imagine if the Lions had even the slightest hint of a quarterback or O-line during Barry's stint. Like if he played for, say, Dallas.
Crap organization.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:49 PM ^
idk, they had some solid O-lines. lomas brown and kevin glover were all pros. also, they had the run of bad luck with utley and the death of andolsek, who imo, had potential all pro potential.
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:46 PM ^
True. Maybe it was the inconsistent and endlessly rotating quarterback nonsense. Just never much of a threat. Scott Mitchell had like one good year.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:07 PM ^
The thing with this is you watch and you don't really see "best RB of all time". You see a guy that is very elusive, has pretty good top end speed, but is really small and makes some awkward movement. It doesn't even really scream "high level recruit", because there are obvious questions of "does this talent really translate to the next level".
Turns out it did. And did to the next level after that. Just think it's crazy looking back at it like that.
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:05 PM ^
Awkward? I wouldn't assign that word to him.
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:12 PM ^
I am with you....Awkward would be my description for most of the guys trying to tackle the little bugger.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:11 PM ^
I got to know an NFL linebacker from back in Barry's days and I once asked him about playing against Barry...He got really quiet for a bit and then said "That little fucker is the only dude in the league who can injure you without ever making contact." He said it with a certain fear and reverence. This was a 12 year NFLer
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:30 PM ^
I believe it. Rod Woodson tore his ACL without contact trying to tackle Barry. A future HoF tore up his knee trying to tackle him is amazing. Barry has made a lllllllllllooooooooooot of people silly out in the open field. Imagine him in today's NFL with spread offense? He can easily run for 2,000 yards
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:52 PM ^
i seem to remember a DB who blew out both knees while missing barry at a game in Det. i could be mistaken though. that turf was awful.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:19 PM ^
Barry's shiftiness and balance was second to know. His speed was really underrated.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:32 PM ^
Imagine being one of those high school linebackers that actually tackled Barry Sanders. You’re telling your grandkids that story every year come football season.
Somebody cue up the Mike Hart high school highlight tape. It’s equally amazing. I remember Sam McGuffie’s tape also being pretty cool.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:39 PM ^
What always struck me about Sanders was that he ran through contact way more than you'd think for a relatively small guy. Like, a lot of this big runs are him breaking arm tackles and bouncing off guys who couldn't quite square him up.
In my eyes, the best pure runner to ever play the position, and he was a decent receiver who would have been just as dangerous in today's game getting balls in the flats and on dump-offs.
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:13 PM ^
A coach that wanted to give him some hybrid snaps a la Reggie Bush or Percy Harvin would've been a genius. Barry's a different guy than them, of course, but even a few routes would've been amazing.
As it is he wasn't a huge receiving threat but he caught more passes than people remember. One of the great highlights from his masterpiece '97 season was from that first Tampa Bay game (the one where he was basically shut down on the ground and a guy from the Bucs called Warwick Dunn "the real Barry Sanders," an assertion that was thunderously answered in Tampa later that year) in garbage time when Barry caught a desperation dumpoff and then embarrassed the entire Bucs defense after the game was out of reach.
I'm not sure if it will embed properly, since it's an NFL property, but it's at 8:30 of this amazing video:
What's remarkable about that video is that there are, in fact, 50 incredible plays that would be top five on the career highlight reel of literally any other player.
Skip it, I'm going to watch that again.
August 23rd, 2018 at 5:23 PM ^
Of course I spent my time at work watching this! It is amazing how many of those highlights came against the Bucs.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:44 PM ^
Eric Gray
August 23rd, 2018 at 5:23 PM ^
Thanks for sharing!! Need to see a little shining light after the meyer travesty. Did you know Barry Sanders was only tackled 9 times in his high school career? Ok, maybe not true. But he was easily the best NFL running back the past 40 years.
August 23rd, 2018 at 11:50 PM ^
The most exciting player to watch in all of the sportsball teams in history.
August 24th, 2018 at 4:30 AM ^
Can actually juke anyone in phone booth