Disclaimer: This Blog Post represents my reactions, and personal interpretations of a documentary and how people were portrayed in the documentary. I’m not a clinical psychologist.
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As a child growing up in the late 80’s and 90’s, I loved watching football during the last vestiges of the “running back” era. I got to watch some of the greatest running backs ever amass thousands of yards each season. Out of all the amazing running backs in the league during this time, one stood out as the greatest of his era - Barry Sanders.
I remember being shocked upon hearing of his retirement in 1999. However, being only a teenager, I quickly moved on to other running backs. But over the years I always found it puzzling that he retired after only 10 years in the league and needing only about 1300 yards to become the all-time rushing leader.
I recently watched a documentary, Bye, Bye, Barry which sheds some light on the reasons why Barry retired so suddenly and unexpectedly. The documentary’s over-arching reason (and I’m paraphrasing here) was that Barry was a consummate competitor. To him, winning ball games was the only driving force. After 10 years on a team that was never really competitive and wasn’t positioning itself to be competitive in the future, Barry lost his drive to compete and retired. While this, I’m sure was a factor contributing to Barry’s decision. I gleaned a different reason for his retirement. A reason that was alluded to, but never brought to light - The Legacy and Influence of his Father.
The documentary highlighted Barry’s professional football career, collegiate and high school career, as well as his personal life. One person who received a lot of coverage was his father, William Sanders. What I found interesting was the way William reacted to his son’s success. The documentary show a man who relished in the attention and fame that came with a son in the NFL. As Barry shied away from the cameras, William sought them out. When Barry was quiet, William was never at a loss for a sound byte or quote. William lived vicariously through his son’s career as if it were his own career. This is what stood out to me most. William, it seemed, had convinced himself that the success and fame that came through his son was, in reality, his success. It was success that was owed him. The fame and glory and money were, somehow, recompense for injustices in his own life and the lack of athletic fame and glory in his own life.
A significant fact I noticed was William’s estimation of his son’s talents and accomplishments. In several interviews William was quoted in saying that Barry was his third-favorite running back, behind Jim Brown and himself (though he never played professional nor college football). In Barry’s Father’s mind, Barry wasn’t quite good enough. Throughout the documentary Barry spoke of how his father never wanted him to break Jim Brown’s records and how he would never be better than Jim Brown (in his father’s eyes).
The third factor I saw were three instances where Barry, at the cusp of a great personal achievement, quit. In high school, with only a few yards away from the rushing title, Barry sidelined himself to let other boys get a chance to play. This happened again his rookie year. In his last game, with only a few yards needed to break the rookie rushing record, Barry pulled himself from the game. Finally, with only 1-2 years of yards rushed needed to break the all-time rushing record, Barry retired. In every situation, it’s as if he suddenly and irrevocably lost the drive to play. The documentary would reason it was because of his sheer desire to win ball games and his pervasive humility. I believe it was the legacy of his father, William.
Barry’s NFL career is one that really began when Barry was only a child. Barry spent his entire life playing in youth leagues, Intermediate school teams, High school teams, College, and the like. His father was watching him every step of the way. However, along with watching his son develop, William made sure always to let his son know “You’ll never be #1 in my eyes. You will always be runner-up.” He ensured his always knew his place…not first. Anytime Barry got close to true success and accomplishment, it was as if something instinctual, something deep within his core stopped him from taking those last steps toward victory. His father trained him and molded him into being a “runner-up” and whenever the choice was in Barry’s hands, he chose to be a runner-up. I’m sure if Barry Sanders was confronted with this thought today, he’d deny it…But I believe it would because the influence of his was is so engrained in him, it’s visceral, it’s baked in. It lives deeply buried in his subconscious.