OT Small tidbit from the Bye Bye Barry Documentary
Regarding the last NFL game Barry Sanders played, Kevin Glover was in Baltimore to watch the game.
"Somebody on staff came and got me and asked me to come in the locker room. I said, "Well, I'm not really on the team, so I'm not going in the locker room." He said, "No, we need you to come in and talk to Barry." I said, "What's going on?" He said, "Well, he's in the back of the locker room. He won't talk to anybody." And I went in and he's sitting back by the lockers, by himself. Everybody else was gone. I said, "Man, you had another solid year." I said, "Hey, when you break the record next year, no matter where I am, I'll be at that game. I'm coming to see it. I want to witness it for myself." And he said, "I don't know if there's going to be a next year."
Does anybody remember who played at QB for the Ravens that game?
Jim Harbaugh.
I remember Jim on the Bears and Colts, but had completely forgotten he had a stint with the Ravens.
And it seems pretty clear people knew Barry was done or at least considering retiring after that game, so all the bullshit posturing by Bobby Ross was a fucking waste of time.
November 23rd, 2023 at 11:11 AM ^
Classic WCF "Don't let them leave the showroom" Lions. Even when all indications are that you're leaving, everyone says you're leaving, AND YOU TELL THEM YOU'RE LEAVING. They still think they can sell you on staying.
See Also:
Calvin Johnson
Ndamukong Suh
November 23rd, 2023 at 11:19 AM ^
Even though he had serious doubts about coming back, he didn't announce it until right before training camp. He probably agonized about it right until the end. But the Lions did not prepare a replacement even when they knew there was a good chance he was done.
November 23rd, 2023 at 12:17 PM ^
"Former Lions QB Scott Mitchell goes off after Barry Sanders doc, rips Eminem and Jeff Daniels"
November 23rd, 2023 at 12:21 PM ^
I didn't understand this. Did they show him a different copy, because I don't remember anyone saying anything bad about him.
November 23rd, 2023 at 12:29 PM ^
The documentary apparently didn't mention Mitchell by name, but there was the assertion that the lack of good QB play was the main reason for the Lions failures. He took it personally.
November 23rd, 2023 at 4:24 PM ^
Dear Scott Mitchell,
This might come as a surprise to you. But you weren't a great QB.
Sincerely, me
November 23rd, 2023 at 5:34 PM ^
Scott has some balls to come to Lions fans and not understand why he wasn’t/isn’t appreciated
November 23rd, 2023 at 11:33 AM ^
This whole post is hard to follow. Some random thoughts and an unclear monologue - unclear who is speaking to whom.
November 23rd, 2023 at 11:37 AM ^
Kevin Glover was in Baltimore to watch the game.
Kevin: "Somebody on staff came and got me and asked me to come in the locker room." I said, "Well, I'm not really on the team, so I'm not going in the locker room."
He [unknown] said, "No, we need you to come in and talk to Barry."
I said, "What's going on?"
He said, "Well, he's in the back of the locker room. He won't talk to anybody."
And I went in and he's sitting back by the lockers, by himself. Everybody else was gone. I said, "Man, you had another solid year." [and] "Hey, when you break the record next year, no matter where I am, I'll be at that game. I'm coming to see it. I want to witness it for myself."
And [Barry] said, "I don't know if there's going to be a next year."
better?
November 23rd, 2023 at 11:46 AM ^
Yes - this is better, thank you.
November 23rd, 2023 at 11:38 AM ^
Things in quotes are quotes from people speaking in the documentary, specifically Kevin Glover who was a long time teammate of Barry Sanders but left the team a few years before Barry retired, and Barry Sanders, a running back for the Detroit Lions which is a team in Detroit, Michigan. Michigan is the state where both the Lions and the Michigan Wolverines are located.
Things not in quotes are not quotes. They are my personal thoughts or added information.
But if you want a TLDR, Barry was behaving strangely after his last game, so much that team staffers asked someone not on the team, but had a friendship with Barry to talk to him. Barry then confessed he was thinking about retiring. So people on the team knew something was up. But then Bobby Ross pretended things were hunky dory and he expected Barry to show up to training camp despite not getting a call back for 8 months.
November 23rd, 2023 at 11:47 AM ^
Good stuff SF. The loose Harbaugh connection was also hard for me for some reason - maybe thanksgiving brain has me off my game.
November 23rd, 2023 at 12:00 PM ^
I had no idea where this post was going and then all of a sudden Jim Harbaugh is mentioned in a way that is totally unimportant to the rest of the post.
November 23rd, 2023 at 11:54 AM ^
He lives in North Hollywood on Radford, near the In-and-Out Burger.
November 23rd, 2023 at 12:13 PM ^
Those are good burgers, Walter
November 23rd, 2023 at 12:10 PM ^
That documentary was fantastic. There will never be another like Barry. Now we know why he left. The combination of Bobby Ross' ineptitude as a coach and WCF cheapness that forced the Lions to trade away Barry's O-Line. The Lions destroyed Barry's will to play the game.
November 24th, 2023 at 8:17 AM ^
This is the truth.
WCF and Wayne Fontes bear the burden of wasted talent. Wayne survived way too long in Detroit because he was surrounded by talent and Barry Sanders.
WCF and Bobby Ross were just the final straw.
Scott Mitchell is not to blame for what should have been.
November 23rd, 2023 at 12:19 PM ^
Bullshit posturing? Dude his dad didn't even know.
November 23rd, 2023 at 12:19 PM ^
Things I learned from the film: On top of the fact that the Lions could not win, the organization was terrible, and all his best friends were no longer on the team, Barry was just done playing. And if you look at him now you can see he made a great decision to get out before getting physically deformed. I used to be semi-mad at him for leaving the day before camp, but I now realize that if he'd given the Lions six months notice that he was leaving, they would not have been able to do anything to make the team better. The ineptitude under WCF was staggering.
Things I didn't need the film to know: Barry was BY FAR the best to ever carry the rock. Not even close. Next best probably Walter Payton. But Barry was ELITE at all of these: balance, power, speed, explosiveness, quickness, vision. If there is ever an equal, it won't come until after he's dead and gets reincarnated.
November 23rd, 2023 at 12:29 PM ^
I liked the part where Barry was talking to Wayne Fontes and Fontes claimed they had opportunities to sign Joe Montana or Warren Moon but the front office thought they were too old. As we all know, they signed Scott Mitchell instead.
November 23rd, 2023 at 12:44 PM ^
In fairness, Montana was close to the end - he only played one more season and then retired. But Moon played several more years.
November 23rd, 2023 at 12:46 PM ^
It didn't work out great, but it's worth remembering that the fan base was demanding that they sign Scott Mitchell at the time, and we were overjoyed when they did. (And, indeed, one year, with Mitchell, the Lions led the entire NFL in offense, before of course getting blown out in the first round of the playoffs by the Eagles).
Second-guessing the ownership now, as if we all knew bringing Mitchell on wouldn't work, is unfair. They tried to get the players they needed to get to the Super Bowl, and it didn't work. And, as Mitchell points out, Sanders himself consistently underperformed in the playoffs.
Shrug. Sometimes you get a 6th round pick at quarterback who turns out to be the best of all time, sometimes you sign the number one quarterback free agent, who half the teams in the league would jump at, and it doesn't work out at all.
If you're the Lions, you might as well count on the latter.
November 23rd, 2023 at 12:35 PM ^
Had Barry stayed, he would have had to endure the Millen years. That would have been very sad
November 23rd, 2023 at 1:12 PM ^
Welp, it’s not the first time the Lions have stunk up the joint on Thanksgiving.
November 23rd, 2023 at 2:51 PM ^
and it surely won't be the last time