Barry Sanders

My hero is Barry Sanders was born in Wichita, Kansas on July 16, 1968. His parents are William and Shirley Ann Sanders. He grew up with ten other kids in the family. He was one of the young ones. When Barry was little he always knew that he would be a great running back but people would always tell him that he was too small to play football and that he would get hurt if he tried. Those things never stopped him from playing the game; he knew that it wouldn’t be as bad as people made it sound. In his fourth game of his senior year in 1985 at Wichita High School North he finally got to carry the ball. In the final 7 games of the season he rushed for 1,322 yards.

He knew that it would be hard to get into college standing at 5 foot 7. Most college coaches thought he was too small to play college ball but with that season he had in his senior year, Oklahoma State University decided to give him a scholarship to play for them as a punt and kick returner. In OSU he became a star sharing time as a running back. He earned the Heisman Trophy and became a first round pick for the Detroit Lions. In 10 years in the NFL he rushed for 15,269 yards and went to the Pro Bowl 10 times.

Also, he became a pro football hall of famer and college hall of famer. Barry Sanders got in the Hall of Fame on January 31, 2004. His #20 jersey was retired on November 25, 2004. After football life, Barry Sanders lives in Suburban Detroit with his wife and three children. He is a majority stockholder of a bank in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Barry Sanders is a hero and I mean it because he left an example of never giving up. It doesn’t matter if you’re short, tall, black, white, etc. He never gave up. After taking criticism he moved on and proved to people just because he was not as big as other football players, he could still do anything that anybody else could do. He inspires me to play the sport of football better and makes me want to do the things he did when he was in the NFL. And that’s why Barry Sanders is my hero. Thank You…