Legendary Oklahoma State Running Back to Reveal Reason For Sudden Retirement in Documentary
Former Oklahoma State legend Barry Sanders is releasing a documentary, which will show plenty more about his football journey than was seen on the surface level.
The Hall of Fame and Heisman-winning running back partnered with Amazon Prime for a documentary called "Bye Bye Barry," with a focus on his retirement from the game of football.
Sanders ran for 1,491 yards on 343 attempts and found the end zone four times in 1998, and was seemingly still at his peak as a running back. Heading into the 1999 season, however, Sanders suddenly retired just before training camp.
"Over the last year I have been filming the definitive movie on my life with [Prime Video and Amazon Studios]," Sanders writes on the app formerly called Twitter. "The great mystery of why I walked away will be answered once and for all."
During his 10-year NFL career, Sanders dominated in just about every season. There's a reason both his retirement was so shocking and why he was introduced into the Hall of Fame in 2004.
The former Cowboys running back was elite in college, too. There's a reason he was the No. 3 pick in the 1989 NFL Draft. In his final season, which was his third year playing at Oklahoma State, Sanders racked up 2,628 yards on 344 carries while scoring 37 touchdowns (excluding Bowl Game stats).
After his incredible season with the Cowboys, Sanders then became the only Heisman winner in school history. He also earned First Team All-America honors.
Sander's Heisman season is one of the most productive college football seasons of all time and set him up for an incredible NFL career.
Once Thurman Thomas, Sanders' former teammate and Hall of Fame running back, made the leap to the NFL, the door opened for Sanders to take over the RB1 reigns for the Cowboys, which paid off enormously.
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Kade has been covering a wide variety of teams ranging from the NFL to the NBA and college athletics since joining Sports Illustrated's On SI in 2022