Best player to never win the Super Bowl?

**the 'stache** · 02-27-2013, 03:18 AM

Originally Posted by tboculosis

Barry Sanders. It's just a travesty that the Lions wouldn't let him go to another team where he could have had a better chance of winning a title, than forcing him no choice but to retire at an earlier age.

Oh please. How about you look at the facts before you post, ok?

In 1997, Sanders agreed to a five year contract extension, making him the highest paid player in the NFL, slightly ahead of what Troy Aikman was making. After a 5-11 season in 1998, he quit because he felt the Lions weren't building a winning team around him. He said he cried after his final game, because he knew then he was done, but he didn't tell his team for months. When he did, it was too late to draft, or sign a good running back.

He'd been a Lion for eight years, and knew how the front office in Detroit operated. Nobody forced him to sign that new contract. He could have not signed, become a free agent, and every other team in the NFL would have tripped over themselves trying to sign him. He could have gone to any team, any contender, and had a shot at the Super Bowl. Instead, he decided to stay in Detroit, and take all that money.

I have no sympathy for him.

http://community.seattletimes.nwsour...1&slug=2550711

**Black3000gt** · 02-27-2013, 07:35 AM

Originally Posted by lambeausouth

I completely disagree. Great running back? Yes. Top five all-time running backs? The case can be made for Sanders. But "hands down the best ever?" Ah, no.

He belongs in the discussion. But Jim Brown, Walter Payton, Eric Dickerson, OJ Simpson, Earl Campbell and Bo Jackson were every bit as great as Sanders.

The one thing those guys had Barry didn't was a good supporting team. The lions had a bad o line. I could only imagine what Barry could have done if you put him on that cowboys team with that o line. He would have destroyed dickerson's record in multiple seasons. I could see him getting over 2500 yards.

**tboculosis** · 02-27-2013, 06:47 PM

Originally Posted by lambeausouth

Oh please. How about you look at the facts before you post, ok?

In 1997, Sanders agreed to a five year contract extension, making him the highest paid player in the NFL, slightly ahead of what Troy Aikman was making. After a 5-11 season in 1998, he quit because he felt the Lions weren't building a winning team around him. He said he cried after his final game, because he knew then he was done, but he didn't tell his team for months. When he did, it was too late to draft, or sign a good running back.

He'd been a Lion for eight years, and knew how the front office in Detroit operated. Nobody forced him to sign that new contract. He could have not signed, become a free agent, and every other team in the NFL would have tripped over themselves trying to sign him. He could have gone to any team, any contender, and had a shot at the Super Bowl. Instead, he decided to stay in Detroit, and take all that money.

I have no sympathy for him.

http://community.seattletimes.nwsour...1&slug=2550711

Not knowing the facts before I post? Anybody with half a brain could pull that crud up through Google search or Wikipedia. I was raise in Detroit, Michigan and grew up a Detroit Lions fan. Barry's heart was in Detroit, but after countless losing seasons, he also had a desire to go elsewhere where he could contend for a Super Bowl ring. The local media went frenzy in his final season when he suggested that he would accept a trade out of Detroit. I currently work with former Detroit Lions' kicker, Eddie Murray, (who played with Barry in the earlier part of Barry's career) and is acquaintance with former Detroit Lions' offensive tackle, Lomas Brown (who also played with Barry and was responsible for blocking for him as well as opening holes so he could run through). Both Eddie and Lomas won their Super Bowl rings AFTER they left Detroit and wish Barry would have been put in a better situation too. Barry Sanders did not quit on the Lions. The Detroit Lions, more specifically team owner William Clay Ford, Sr., quit on Barry Sanders by not surrounding him with any talent. Vilifying him is unjust, especially after years of him grinding it out and giving it his all for pretty much nothing to show for it.