Barry, Barry Good

He needs 131 yards to become only the third player in NFL history to reach 2,000 yards in a season, and he has already set the record with 13 consecutive 100-yard games going into Sunday’s game against the New York Jets.

But at best, notes one longtime football observer, Barry Sanders is only one of the top five running backs of all time, mixed right in there with Tony Dorsett, O.J. Simpson, Eric Dickerson. ...

“I never thought Walter Payton was so good; he had longevity,” he says. “Wait, Gale Sayers -- I’d put him way ahead of Eric Dickerson.

“You can arrange those guys any way you want, but now the best running back to ever play the game,” says William Sanders, Barry Sanders’ father, “that was Jim Brown.”

Without a doubt, he insists.

“Jim Brown could do what he wanted to do; Barry can’t do what he wants to do. He’s not the football player Jim Brown was.”

But your son ...

“I’m 60 years old, and on any good day of the week I know this: A good big man is better than a good little man,” William Sanders says. “Come on, what planet are you from?”

But your son ...

“I’m so proud of Barry, but I’m also a realist,” he says. “When Barry was growing up, the one thing that ticked me off was when a coach played his son just because it was his son. I coached Barry and one of my other sons in basketball and I played the best athletes. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do?”

But ...

“I watched Jim Brown play for the Cleveland Browns and he was the best I have ever seen. He never missed a game, never missed a play, and teams weren’t watered down back then as they are now because there are so many more teams in the league now. Playing football back then was harder.”

Brown averaged an NFL-record 5.2 yards a carry in his nine years with the Browns, rushing 2,359 times for 12,312 yards.

“I will probably never say that Barry is the best, unless he can average 5.2 yards over his career and not carry the ball any more than Jim Brown.”

*

Barry Sanders stood, amused, before his locker, days away from his chance to join Dickerson and Simpson as the only running backs to reach 2,000 yards in a season, listening to the remarks his dad had made a day earlier.

“I take it as a compliment,” he says. “How else can you take it when you are put in the top five of running backs of all time?”

But your father ...

“Cutting me a break has never really been his strong suit. He just speaks his mind, and he’s not one to try and be diplomatic and say I’m better just because I’m his son. He’s speaking the way he really believes.

“When I was growing up as a kid, he was always listening to the Cleveland Browns on the radio, and like any of us, we have our heroes that we like to look up to, and his was Jim Brown.”

But ... do you think you will ever get to the point where you can do enough to have your father say, “OK, Barry was the best running back to ever play the game”?

Sanders smiled and shook his head. “It’s insignificant.”

But your father ...

“What kind of son would I be to take away my father’s hero?”

*

Barry Sanders is averaging six yards a carry this season, and in his nine years in the league has carried the ball 337 times more than Jim Brown, and has an average of 5.04 yards a carry. His dad’s hero averaged 5.22.

He has scored 13 times on plays covering more than 50 yards, an NFL record -- and one more than Brown.

“Do you know the numbers that really count?” Brown asks. “All those 100-yard games, those are fantastic feats. That’s moving the pill, whether it’s my day, this day or whatever, you have to be running the ball to gain 100 yards.

“You combine that with the average gain per carry, and that speaks to his ability.”

Brown ran for 100 or more yards 58 times, whereas Sanders has done it 67 times. His 13 100-yard games this season constitute an NFL record.

“This 1,000-yard-season thing is almost embarrassing to talk about,” Brown says. “In my time, that was based on 12 games, which wasn’t even 100 yards a game. Today it means you’re a substitute if you’re gaining 1,000 yards [in 16 games]. Getting 2,000 yards is a nice accomplishment, but if his team wins the game, it accomplishes something in making the playoffs, and that makes a difference.”

Brown, who lives in Los Angeles, will not, has not and never will, he says, proclaim someone, including himself, the best running back in the game.

“I’ve been in this conversation at least 10 times,” he says. “(The media) came to me with O.J., with Earl (Campbell), Emmitt (Smith). . . . It’s not a new conversation, just a new man.

*

The Lions are 40-27 in games in which Sanders runs for at least a 100 yards, and they need one more victory, over the Jets, to advance to the playoffs.

After defeating Tampa Bay last week, Jet Coach Bill Parcells left the interview room and spotted linebacker Mo Lewis. Parcells nodded at Lewis and said two words: “Barry Sanders.”

This week, the Jets have asked wide receiver Dedric Ward to impersonate Sanders in practice. No way will it prepare them for the dynamic explosion awaiting them in the Silverdome.

“Barry Sanders is the only guy who can go east and west at the same speed at the same time,” Minnesota linebacker Dwayne Rudd said.

After Chicago defensice tackle Marlon Forbes brought down Sanders in a recent game, he lay there, refusing to let Sanders get to his feet.

“I was watching some of his runs, and I saw what he was doing to people,” Forbes says. “So when I got him down, I said, ‘Dammit, is it possible -- I just tackled Barry Sanders?”’

Brett Perriman, former Lion receiver, said, “People used to say Emmitt was as good or better than Barry. If Barry had Emmitt’s line, Barry would have run for 3,000 yards in a season.”

Miami’s Jimmy Johnson coached Smith at Dallas, but he says, “I’ve been fortunate to be around some good backs over the years, but Barry is truly special. He is the player who truly keeps you on the edge of your seat. If I was voting -- and this is no offense to Jim Brown -- I would vote Barry Sanders the best running back of all time.”

*

The Lions are in position to make the playoffs because wide receiver Herman Moore caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Scott Mitchell with three seconds to play to defeat Minnesota, 14-13.

There were many, some of them Viking defenders, who expected the Lions to give the ball to Sanders.

“Barry couldn’t win that game,” William Sanders says. “Now, I got excited when they threw the ball to Herman because I knew he could make that play. I want to see this team win so badly and go to the Super Bowl. The only thing that’s keeping them back is the quarterback play. Every game they have lost is contributable to quarterback play, but [Scott Mitchell] looks like he’s getting a little more stable.

“Every time Mitchell plays good, the team wins. He’s the key in my mind, not Barry. Hey, they could be the first team to win the Super Bowl with seven loses.”

Dream on. ...

“This country was built on dreams,” says William Sanders, still working as a carpenter after raising 11 children.

He admits he hollered louder than he can ever remember after watching Moore’s touchdown catch on TV--louder than for anything his son has done on the football field, but then there was no one to hear him.

“My wife doesn’t watch most of the games because on Sunday mornings, she goes to Sunday school and she’s not going to give that up for anybody, and Barry knows that.”

William Sanders will be on the Lions’ sideline Sunday for the Jets’ game, but he will not say anything to his son.

“Only advice I ever gave him was to freeze the defender and then put a move on the guy,” he says. “You know all these years watching Barry, they still don’t know how to use him. I’d run him out of the run-and-shoot offense, no huddle, flank him, put him in motion and pitch him the ball. If Barry was on my team, you couldn’t use linebackers because they couldn’t cover him.

“It gets so frustrating watching the offense and then I have people asking me what they’re doing with Barry, like the coach is calling me up before every play and telling me. The fact they take out Barry on the goal line and let other people score touchdowns doesn’t bother me; Marcus Allen has a bunch of watered-down touchdowns, so what? Taking Barry out prevents guys from just trying to kill him, and will let him play longer and not get hurt.”

*

For all his moves on the football field, Barry Sanders says very little off it. He scores a touchdown, and he looks for the official to toss him the ball. The sportswriters who have covered him for all nine years in Detroit agree on one thing, the one time he showed some emotion -- the time against Minnesota when he gave a high five to teammate Lomas Brown.

“I’m so proud of my son because he’s a decent human being,” William Sanders says. “There’s no gold chains, earrings, and no ‘yeah and no’ talk. Barry could have been the Michael Jordan of football, but he didn’t want to be.”

“I don’t go for any of this showboat stuff. Early this season, Chicago scored the first touchdown of the game against Detroit and their guys were dancing like the game was over. They never scored another damn point and got beat, 32-7.”

William and Shirley Sanders raised 11 children, and to hear all those who know Barry Sanders best, they talk about the family he came from before they ever get around to discussing his football talents.

“Children are the same in China, San Diego, Detroit, on the moon, they are all the same,” William Sanders says. “What makes the difference is the parents. I told Barry early on not to ever think he was any better than anyone else, because there’s some wino in the ghetto who never had the chance he had, who was probably better.”

“People are warped. They want to talk to Barry just because he’s an athlete. People think good athletes are good people, but that’s not always the case.

“He’s got 30 to 40 years more to live as a human being after football, so there are more important things in life. I’m opinionated, sure, but his name is Barry Sanders and mine is William Sanders. We’re different, and that’s good. He’s got an attitude more like his mother, and Jim Brown had an attitude more like mine.”

*

Hundreds of people will be standing outside the Pontiac Silverdome, waiting to catch a glimpse of Barry Sanders. His autograph would be treasured.

William Sanders, meanwhile, wishes only that he had the opportunity to shake Jim Brown’s hand.

“He’s my sports hero and nobody else comes close,” he says. “If it happens, maybe I could get a picture too, if he would let me.”

But your son ...

“He will always be my son,” he says. “And I love him for who he is, not what he’s done.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

AVG. PER RUSH LEADERS

Jim Brown: (1957-65) 5.22

Mercury Morris: (1969-76) 5.14

Barry Sanders: (1989-97) 5.04

Gale Sayers: (1965-71) 5.00

Paul Lowe: (1960-69) 4.87

AVG. PER GAME LEADERS

Jim Bown: (1957-65) 104.3

Barry Sanders: (1989-97) 99.6

Emmitt Smith: (1990-97) 91.0

Eric Dickerson: (1983-93) 90.8

Walter Payton: (1975-87) 88.0

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Game-by-Game to 2,000 Yards

Game-by-game rushing totals for O.J. Simpson of the Buffalo Bills and Eric Dickerson of the Rams for the seasons they rushed for more than 2,000 yards, and Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions for this season as he closes in on the mark:

O.J. SIMPSON (1973)

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Opponent Att Yds Avg TD at New England 29 250 8.6 2 at San Diego 22 103 4.7 1 N.Y. Jets 24 123 5.1 0 Philadelphia 27 171 6.3 1 Baltimore 22 166 7.5 2 at Miami 14 55 3.9 0 Kansas City 39 157 4.0 2 at New Orleans 20 79 4.0 0 Cincinnati 20 99 5.0 1 Miami 20 120 6.0 0 at Baltimore 15 124 8.3 1 at Atlanta 24 137 5.7 0 New England 22 219 10.0 1 at N.Y. Jets 34 200 5.9 1 Totals 332 2003 6.0 12

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ERIC DICKERSON (1984)

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Opponent Att Yds Avg TD Dallas 21 138 6.6 1 Cleveland 27 102 3.8 0 at Pittsburgh 23 49 2.1 0 at Cincinnati 22 89 4.0 1 Giants 22 120 5.4 0 Atlanta 19 107 5.6 2 at New Orleans 21 164 7.8 0 at Atlanta 24 145 6.0 1 San Francisco 13 38 2.9 0 at St. Louis 21 208 9.9 0 Chicago 28 149 5.3 2 at Green Bay 25 132 5.3 0 at Tampa Bay 28 191 6.8 3 New Orleans 32 160 5.0 1 Houston 27 215 8.0 2 San Francisco 26 98 3.8 1 Totals 379 2105 5.6 14

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BARRY SANDERS (1997)

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Opponent Att Yds Avg TD Atlanta 15 33 2.2 0 Tampa Bay 10 20 2.0 0 at Chicago 19 161 8.5 0 at New Orleans 18 113 6.3 0 Green Bay 28 139 5.0 0 at Buffalo 25 107 4.3 0 at Tampa Bay 24 215 9.0 2 N.Y. Giants 24 105 4.4 1 at Green Bay 23 105 4.6 0 at Washington 15 105 7.0 1 Minnesota 19 108 5.7 0 Indianapolis 24 216 9.0 2 Chicago 19 167 8.8 3 at Miami 30 137 4.6 1 at Minnesota 19 138 7.3 0 N.Y. Jets -- -- -- -- Totals 312 1869 6.0 10

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