Barry Sanders

[tomdalton22]

A little article from ESPN on Barry's Heisman year 25 years ago. His numbers were out of this world!



Can we take a moment and bow our heads in reverence to arguably the greatest season ever produced by a major college player?

I'm talking about Barry Sanders and his 1988 season at Oklahoma State.

This is the 25-year anniversary of Sanders winning the Heisman Trophy, so it's only right that BMOC offers a reminder of his greatness. And, yes, Sam Bradford, you should definitely get Sanders a cold drink after he steals your spot on the Heisman House couch.


Malcolm Emmons/USA TODAY SportsOklahoma State's Barry Sanders rewrote the record book while delivering a season for the ages in 1988.


The 1988 numbers are almost obscene:

? He rushed for an NCAA all-time record 2,628 yards in 11 games.

? He averaged an NCAA-record (geez, just about everything he did that season remains an NCAA record) 238.9 rushing yards per game, 7.64 yards per carry.

? He had four games of 300 or more rushing yards and five games of 200 or more yards.

? He had 37 rushing touchdowns.

? He had 3,250 all-purpose yards.

? He scored at least two touchdowns in all 11 games and at least three TDs in nine games.

? Even his brother, Northwestern running back Byron Sanders, had a big year in 1988, gaining 1,062 yards (making them the NCAA's all-time leading brothers duo).

Sanders wasn't on anybody's Heisman radar at season's beginning. Then he returned the season-opening kickoff against Miami of Ohio for a touchdown and rushed for 178 yards and a pair of scores. As the year wore on, Sanders' weekly stat sheets got so big they needed lap band surgery.

According to a recent story by John Helsley in The Oklahoman, Oklahoma State was only on national television one time that season. So the Cowboys' sports information office began a Heisman campaign that cost about $50,000 and included weekly phone calls to select voters.

Even without the campaign, Sanders would have won. Voters aren't that dumb. Sanders was virtually unstoppable that season and the numbers couldn't be ignored. He easily outdistanced his personal choice for the Heisman (preseason favorite Rodney Peete of USC).

But here's what's cool about Sanders, one of 11 children of a Wichita, Kan., roofer: when he reluctantly appeared via satellite from Tokyo (the Cowboys were playing a game there against Texas Tech) for the presentation ceremony, Sanders made sure his offensive linemen were on hand.

"It still takes my breath away," former Oklahoma State coach Pat Jones told Helsley.

And fellow Heisman winner Marcus Allen of USC once said of Sanders: "He was one of the few that would make other athletes' jaws drop."

 

[byco42]

And Sanders was the third player chosen behind Aikman and ... Tony Mandarich.

 

[Mitchrapp]

And Sanders was the third player chosen behind Aikman and ... Tony Mandarich.

QB will go before RB but the big fk up was when Mandarich was taken.

 

[Mitchrapp]

I do remember when there was talk what Sanders they going to take..I was afraid Deion was going to be the pick. Great player but we needed the RB. And I remember Deion said something about never wanting to play for Detroit or something like that.

 

[tonyballs]

And Sanders was the third player chosen behind Aikman and ... Tony Mandarich.

Exactly. Mandarich was a joke and Aikman would have been an epic failure in Detroit at the time. We were blessed when Barry came to town....

 

[schles192]

I do remember when there was talk what Sanders they going to take..I was afraid Deion was going to be the pick. Great player but we needed the RB. And I remember Deion said something about never wanting to play for Detroit or something like that.

Chargers Inquire About Deion Sanders
April 21, 1989|BRIAN HEWITT | Times Staff Writer
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SAN DIEGO ? The agent for Florida State cornerback Deion Sanders said Thursday that the Chargers have called to inquire about Sanders' status in Sunday's draft. And, he said, Sanders could be had by the Chargers in a first-round trade with the Detroit Lions.

Sanders, according to the Chargers, is the best cornerback to come out of college in the past decade. His nickname is "Neon Deion." The Chargers' concern is that Sanders might opt to play baseball. He currently is a member of the Yankee minor league system.

But his agent, Chicago attorney Steve Zucker, said Sanders is committed to playing professional football. And, Zucker said, he thinks the Detroit Lions will be willing to trade the third pick in the draft--a pick the Chargers would almost certainly use to select Sanders--to a team that makes the right offer. The Chargers own the eighth pick in the first round.

Dallas already has signed UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman as the first pick. Green Bay has said it plans to take Michigan State tackle Tony Mandarich with the second. Sanders is the next highest rated player available.

Zucker said he spoke with Les Miller, the Chargers' director of college scouting, by phone Wednesday. "It was just exploratory," Zucker said. "They wanted to know Deion's status."

Zucker also said he doesn't believe reports that the Lions will choose Oklahoma State running back Barry Sanders with the third pick. A source close to Detroit General Manager Jerry Vainisi confirmed that Vainisi is open to offers for the third pick.

The Lions recently hired Mouse Davis as offensive coordinator to install the "run-and-shoot" offense. And the Lions are more interested in a "big" back who can run, catch and block NFL-sized people. Barry Sanders is 5-8.

Zucker also said Deion Sanders doesn't want to play in Detroit and refused to go there for tests when the Lions requested that he do so.

Steve Ortmayer, the Chargers' director of football operations, has said all along that Aikman was the only player who interested the Chargers in a trade-up deal. But Aikman is gone now.

Thursday, Ortmayer stopped short of saying the Chargers are seeking to trade for Deion Sanders but did admit they want to be sure about his baseball status. "We're working on it," Ortmayer said. Hence the call from Miller.

Last week Ortmayer said Sanders was "the kind of guy you can turn a corner position over to for 10 years. And we don't have a problem with his (flashy) personality."

The price for Deion Sanders would be steep. The Chargers would have to surrender their first-round pick to the Lions, plus an expensive package that would include players, draft picks or both.

But cornerback is one of the Chargers' most pressing needs, along with quarterback and outside linebacker. Zucker said Sanders has said San Diego is a team he would like to play for. "Deion's from Florida," Zucker said. "He wants to play in warm weather."

 

[Mitchrapp]

If we make that trade, Barry would go 4th and we would have never had him.