OT: 25 years ago today - Barry hits 2,000
Glad TDISC brought this out today.
Barry started that game slowly, but then hit the gas and just lit the Jets on fire. And the way he hit 2,000 on the button, stayed in the game because the team needed him, and then ran for 53 more... electric.
That whole season, man. It was 1997, we all know what that was for Michigan. But every weekend it was Michigan football on Saturday, and then, what's Barry going to do on Sunday. And he did *a lot*.
There was the game at Tampa Bay (the day after Michigan beat Northwestern, Woodson had one interception) where Barry ran for 2 80 yard TDs. (two of the top ten runs in this amazing highlight vid).
The day after UM-OSU, Barry ran for 50 and for an 80 yard TD against the Colts (and Jim Harbaugh!).
There was that epic Thanksgiving game 5 days after UM-OSU where the Lions played the Bears and Barry just took over starting late in the second quarter.
14 straight 100 yard games. He was unstoppable, and you just couldn't look away.
What a great year that was.
December 22nd, 2022 at 9:10 AM ^
For once, on this board, I get to say, "I WAS AT THAT GAME!"
We were terribly concerned that if Barry was tackled for a loss on a later play, he would be short of 2000. That fear did not last long. The crowd went bananas when he broke the next run.
Barry Sanders, Reggie Brown, and Andre Ware regularly come to mind if a game at the Silverdome comes up.
December 22nd, 2022 at 9:49 AM ^
It really was a great season by him; he ran for 2000 yards in 14 games and was just dominant in a way you don't expect for his size. That's the thing about AP and Henry running for 2000 yards; they were just so big and physical you could get why they'd dominate games. But Sanders (and then Chris Johnson) were so fast and elusive that it felt "cooler" when they picked up 2k.
Still the greatest running back I've ever seen and had be played on those Cowboys teams Smith ran behind my guess is the rushing record would have been set so high it'd never be challenged.
December 22nd, 2022 at 10:18 AM ^
i've said that for years re: if barry played on the cowboys. some folks try to say that emmett was in barry's league. nope, no way, no how. emmett was a fine back, excellent pro, but got to play behind a hall-of-fame line with a hall-of-fame QB and hall-of-fame WR's. barry got to play with a bunch of mutts.
December 22nd, 2022 at 11:47 AM ^
A few families on our cul-de-sac where I grew up went out to the Detroit Zoo for the holiday lights and one of the dads was smart enough to bring his Sony Watchman (there's a piece of technological nostalgia). I heard Mark Champion's radio broadcast of Barry breaking 2,000 yards on our family's way back home. Besides the record and Reggie Brown's injury, the other thing that stood out was Dick Hantak acting like a cranky old school principal telling the crowd to quiet down (he might as well have told them to get off his lawn) because Neil O'Donnell couldn't deal with being a visiting player. The Jets were a bunch of whiners as the game slipped out of their hands.
December 22nd, 2022 at 12:46 PM ^
I was there. Lower endzone seats. Place was so loud I couldn't hear my buddy right next to me.
Lions ever make a run opposing teams are going to find the most hostile environment they’ve ever faced.