Why Did Barry Sanders Retire? New Documentary Pulls Back the Curtain

While the modern NFL has trended away from relying on star running backs, the league has seen some elite ball-carriers over the years. Among the best was Barry Sanders. The Detroit Lions star never won a Super Bowl, but his speed, elusiveness and, perhaps most importantly, his stat line still loom large.

Well, the running back is about to burst back into the spotlight.

No, Sanders isn't plotting a shocking comeback at age 55. Instead, he'll be the subject of a new Prime Video documentary titled Bye, Bye Barry. Viewers will hear from Sanders, plus celebrities like Eminem, Jeff Daniels, Tim Allen, Emmitt Smith, Calvin Johnson, Herman Moore, Rodney Peete, Chris Spielman, Kevin Glover, Jalen Rose, Jemele Hill, Dan Patrick and Bill Belichick, in an exploration of the legendary running back and his shocking decision to leave pro football behind.

Let's take a closer look.

Walking Away in His Prime

In the world of sports, there's a great deal of subjectivity. Anyone who has sat at a bar watching a game can confirm that reality. Stats and numbers, however, largely speak for themselves.

In those categories, Barry Sanders stands tall. In his final NCAA season at Oklahoma State, he piled up an incredible 2,628 rushing yards and 37 rushing touchdowns on the way to winning the Heisman Trophy. He then joined the Detroit Lions as the third overall pick of the 1989 NFL Draft, setting the stage for football history.

In the Motor City, the hits kept coming. Sanders tallied more than 15,000 rushing yards across 10 professional seasons, including a 2,053-yard 1997 campaign. His trophy case, while lacking a Super Bowl title, boasts six All-Pro nods, two Offensive Player of the Year crowns and the 1997 NFL MVP Award. When he touched the ball, you knew something special could happen.

But there's more to the story than sheer accolades. On the eve of the 1999 season, Sanders suddenly retired without fanfare. The man who seemed almost guaranteed to break Walter Payton's all-time rushing record hung up his helmet and left the country. Fans were left stunned, like a defender whom Sanders had juked out of their shoes.

Now, Prime Video is pulling back the curtain on Sanders' career and his decision to leave the Lions.

"Bye Bye Barry, the definitive, firsthand account of Barry Sanders' remarkable life story, will premiere November 21 exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide, with the exception of Japan," the company said in a press release. "Prime Video also released a teaser trailer in conjunction with the premiere date announcement. Bye Bye Barry is the latest addition to the Prime membership."

"Watching Barry Sanders play running back was to witness a mystery," added NFL Films' Angela Torma, co-director and co-producer of the film. "But Sanders' career ended with a much bigger mystery: Why did one of the greatest running backs of all time walk away in his prime, on the cusp of breaking the league's all-time rushing record? In Bye Bye Barry, we discover the reasoning for his retirement, and why it still reverberates so strongly across the sports landscape today."

During his time on the gridiron, Sanders did his part to restore the Lions' roar. Now, in a fitting turn of events, the living legend will be stepping back into the spotlight as his old team seems to be finding its stride.