I had the pleasure of seeing Barry play 3 times. He is clearly the most exciting and elusive back in history. When you add in his humble attitude, what was not to love? Still my favorite player of all time and probably will always be. 

You know a back is good when you tell the line to just get in front of someone and let Barry find a lane.

I would have loved to have watched Barry play several more years, but as the Rolling Stones once sang “you can’t always get what you want” Barry was remarkable while playing on some awful Detroit teams. The only knock on the guy was he would dance a little too much for my taste behind the line of scrimmage. However if you are as elusive as Barry you can get away with that. He was a great one.

The best 2 Running backs of all time both ended there careers early. Jim Brown is the other back i'm talking about.....I still to this day think about "what if" Sanders just palyed 2 or 3 more years. He had records no one would have touched. Specially if u account for the team he played for vs what others (emmit Smith) and any future backs have....Most people dont even think of this stat. All 10 years in his career he rushed for 1000 yards +, including his first year. Alot of backs that have had long streaks didnt rush for 1000 there first nfl season.... He also had 5 years in arow he rushed 1500 + yards....He was my idle growing up and it was disappointing, but anyone that watch Barry run knows he's the best no matter what the paper stats show for the future....

Barry created his own holes in the defense.... As for his consistency? How about the fact that was the first player to rush for at least 1,000 yards in his first 10 seasons? And how does 14 consecutive games with over 100 yards (still an NFL record ) sound to you? The most gifted, creative and intelligent pure runner that the game has ever seen. Period. End of discussion.

Certainly electrifying but I'm not sure I'd want a back who might run for 200 yds in a game and then again, if he doesn't get his three or four holes to open up, he may be contained for 50 yds. People forget that for most of his prime the Lions had like 18 wide receivers who could play even with the bums they had at pivot - Barry got a lot of pass dee to run into. Give me a back, or even a pair of backs that will get me a steady 125-150 yds a game and can convert two of every three short third down situations and I'll get in the playoffs every year. Plus I think for every yard he gained the Lions defense gave up two, at least Payton got his championship.

My mom (who knew nothing about football and never cared) walked into the living room during a Thanksgiving Day game. . .Barry made (everyone) miss and ran over 40 yards for a touchdown. . .I'll never forget the look on her face when she said, "That was amazing!" Barry Sanders- the choice of football-illiterate moms everywhere!

So elusive that you have to pin his ass down for a bit and make sure the ref knows he is down. UPDATE: Oh yeah, he never had a line and still messed up defenses.

A quiet and unassuming guy who never seemed to revel in celebrity or stardom. He probably had the most pure talent of any back who ever played. When I watched the story about him on Sports Century, (ESPN Classic), one insider? who they interviewed said that the night before a road game Barry was out-at a laundromat doing his laundry! That's what our society needs more of- an anti-star star!

The most amazing thing about this guy is that if he still was in the game, he would be getting close to 2000 ydrs a year every year. I fell he is one of the most talented football players of all time, and like others have said, he was a pleasure to watch. If only he they would have allowed him to rush the ball when the Lions were in their opponents 10 yard line. He could have been a great touchdown back, they just never game him a chance. And even then, he is still ranked in the top 10 as far as rushing TDs go. Never a good playoff man though, he seemed to chock in the playoffs, unless you considered the clinic he put on in the 1993 playoff game against the Packers. And they he goes back to the basically the same team in 1994 in the playoffs and rushes like 15 times and goes for negative yardage.

Gets a five for staying with the Lions for as long as he did. It must be horrible to have all that talent and little on none around you. He got tired of carrying the team and wanted to be traded. The Lions at least owed him that and could have got quite a bit on the market for him but alas he retired and we will never know what he could have accomplished.

An absolute joy to watch....never missed a Thanksgiving game with the Lions because he might do something that you would never see again. Amazing balance and field vision. Saw things on the field that no one else did. Loses a point in my eyes for leaving the game too soon.