Whereas imitation is commonly a type of flattery, there’s one circumstance the place Barry Sanders would relatively not see Saquon Barkley observe in his footsteps.
A Corridor of Fame operating again for the Detroit Lions, Sanders authored arguably probably the most stunning retirement within the historical past of sports activities when he determined to hold up his cleats for good simply earlier than the beginning of the 1999 season. Sanders’ choice to retire at age 31 and on the peak of his powers was lately alluded to by Barkley, who mentioned that may see himself retiring similarly, maybe as early as subsequent offseason.
“I would say, maybe after the Lions win a Super Bowl, and I feel like the Eagles have a chance to maybe win another one,” Sanders informed CBS Sports activities when requested what kind of recommendation he would give to Barkley in gentle of his latest retirement feedback. “So, you should stick around for a little while. As a fan, I’m enjoying watching him play. I still see him as still being very young. I’m excited with what he’s been able to do in Philadelphia, and really, just his journey. He was written off by the Giants, and to see the kind of year he had last year, I know he still has a lot of great years left in him.”
Barkley, 28, is coming off one of many best seasons a operating again has ever put collectively. Along with turning into the ninth participant to hurry for two,000 yards in an everyday season (a fraternity that additionally contains Sanders, who rushed for two,053 yards in the course of the 1997 season), Barkley broke Terrell Davis’ report for probably the most speeding yards in a complete season. Together with the postseason, Barkley rushed for a whopping 2,504 yards, trumping Davis’ earlier mark of two,476 yards.
Final yr, Barkley additionally joined Davis and fellow Corridor of Famer Emmitt Smith as the one gamers to win a speeding title and a Tremendous Bowl in the identical yr. Not dangerous for a participant who, as Sanders alluded to, was basically minimize free by the Giants final offseason.
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Given his present state of affairs in Philadelphia, Sanders is clearly a proponent of Barkley prolonging his profession. And whereas Barkley’s latest retirement feedback have been stunning, Sanders mentioned that it was considerably comprehensible.
“Sometimes, players feel that [way], and once they get into camp and into the season, they feel different,” Sanders mentioned. “Philadelphia feels like a great place, a great home for him, so hopefully it’s just sort of a temporary thing that he’s experiencing, that he’ll continue to enjoy the success there with that great team that they’ve assembled. I’m pretty sure he and the Lions will be fighting it out to get to the big one this year and years to come. But I wish him the best with whatever he decides to do, though.”
It seems, based mostly on his feedback this week at Eagles minicamp, that Barkley plans to take Sanders’ recommendation.
“I don’t think I’ll ever lose the passion for the game,” Barkley mentioned. “The retiring factor, I feel that caught somewhat fireplace on social media. I don’t plan on retiring any time quickly. The query was requested of me, and I don’t have a set date, or what number of years I wish to play.
“I would love to play this game as long as God lets me, and my body lets me, so that’s really it.”
