The most watched documentary on Amazon Prime Video, “Bye Bye Barry,” provides insight into Sanders’ retirement decision.
These days, quarterback Jared Goff and head coach Dan Campbell aren’t the only well-liked Detroit Lions.
Amazon Prime Video’s most-watched documentary is about the greatest running back in franchise history and his unexpected retirement.
“Bye Bye Barry” examines Barry Sanders’ ten-year Detroit Lions tenure and his 1999 retirement decision, which came just short of him becoming the NFL’s all-time leading rusher. Less than two weeks after its debut, it outperformed “Kelce,” a documentary about Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles.
The timing is perfect, in my opinion,” Sanders remarked. “Amazon thought it was a story that many people would be interested in hearing about and sharing. They thought it was an appropriate tale for them to be able to narrate in a particular way. In addition, I believe that viewers enjoy in-depth documentaries like “The Last Dance.”
The 90-minute documentary covers Sanders’ 10-year Detroit career, his recruitment to Oklahoma State University, his 1988 Heisman Trophy victory, and much more, but it focuses mostly on his decision to retire and move to London the night before the Lions’ 1999 training camp opened.
Sanders finished his career with 15,269 rushing yards and 109 touchdowns at the age of 31. He was just 1,457 yards away from becoming the NFL’s rushing king, a record that would be broken by Emmitt Smith three years later. He had passed Walter Payton.
Jim Brown, who left Cleveland after nine seasons in 1966 at the age of 29, was compared to Sanders at the time of his retirement. As he was filming a movie in England, Brown declared his retirement.
“I’ve never considered myself to be mysterious or mystic in any way. However, I can understand how someone who doesn’t know me might perceive it that way,” Sanders remarked. “Hopefully, a lot of questions will be addressed in the documentary. There’s a new fan base of sorts. We want to accomplish a lot.
Throughout the documentary, there is a detail that highlights Sanders’s lack of concern for numbers or attention. Williams Sanders, the father of Sanders, talked about how his son decided not to play in the final regular-season game of his senior year of high school because his team was ahead by five touchdowns, despite the fact that he could have finished as the top rusher in Wichita, Kansas, in a taped interview before he passed away in 2011.
In 1989, as a rookie, Sanders came just eight yards short of surpassing Christian Okoye of Kansas City for the rushing title because he preferred other backs to receive carries in the fourth quarter while the Lions were comfortably ahead of the Atlanta Falcons.
Prominent Detroit Lions supporters Jeff Daniels, Tim Allen, and Eminem join the conversation to share their recollections of Sanders.
Perhaps the most exciting aspect is Sanders’s trip to London with his four sons. In a scene shot at a restaurant close to London Bridge, they question him about the choice and the rationale behind it, asking him to fax a statement to his local Wichita paper rather than holding a press conference.
Barry Sanders recalled feeling toward the middle of the 1998 season that it might be his last in a conversation with his sons.
The second-oldest, Nigel Sanders, 22, asked his father if he had considered joining a different team, but he never gave it much thought. To his eldest son, Barry Sanders Jr., Barry Sanders admitted that losing played
“That’s a game you could probably play all day,” he replied. Like after a disappointing Super Bowl loss and a strong playoff run. Indeed, those things are important. And looking back, I suppose all I can say is that it might have had an impact.”
In addition to being featured in Nissan’s “Heisman House” campaign, Sanders is now playable by a new generation of Madden video game players. Sanders is no longer the target of any animosity from the Lions. This season, a statue of Sanders was dedicated in front of Ford Field.
Sanders hopes that for the first time since the 1991 season—the longest current drought—the Lions will host and win a postseason game.
Detroit leads Minnesota by three games in the NFC North heading into Sunday’s game at Chicago, where they are 9-3 overall.
“I would have thought that after I left that stadium that day, I would have won a Super Bowl and a number of additional playoff games. Thus, it merely demonstrates that there are no guarantees in the game,” he remarked. “You get the impression that guys play for Coach Campbell because of his personality. He takes the fallout when things go wrong. This year’s division leadership is largely the result of the work that general manager Brad Holmes and Dan have done together since they joined the team. All the praise in the world is due to them.
