Back in 1988, Barry Sanders had just wrapped up the kind of season most college backs can’t even imagine—2,628 rushing yards, 37 touchdowns, and a Heisman Trophy to show for it. He was ready to run it back at Oklahoma State, too. But his dad, William Sanders, wasn’t having it. “You go back to school and gain 2,000 yards and score 20-some touchdowns, and they’re going to say, ‘Barry didn’t have the year he had last year; something must be wrong with him.'” That fatherly nudge sent Barry straight to the NFL, where he’d go on to define a decade with nothing but cuts, jukes, and jaw-dropping runs. And now, decades later, in a rare all-exclusive conversation with EssentiallySports, the Lions legend sat down with our host Andrew Whitelaw to reflect on his journey, his sudden retirement, and what it means to finally see Detroit turning a corner.

Barry entered the league like he played… Quietly. No grand statements, just the ball in his hands and defenders in his rearview. He rushed for over 1,000 yards in each of his ten seasons. Then, at the top of his game, he walked away. No injury. No farewell. Just a fax, and silence. His decision rocked the NFL. Some blamed the team. Others pointed fingers at Barry himself. But years later, the truth came out: he’d simply lost faith in the Lions’ direction. “My retirement letter didn’t even hint at my frustration, because I didn’t want to take shots at people as I left,” Barry wrote in his autobiography. “Management had let quality players slip away. We’d been losing for years.”

And then, the exit. “There was nothing really left to play for. I didn’t see us as any kind of a serious Super Bowl contender,” he later said in Bye Bye Barry, the Amazon Prime documentary that peeled back the curtain. For Barry, it was never about the spotlight. It was about winning, and the Lions, at that time, simply didn’t have the ‘how to’. The spark was gone. He left without the ring he chased his whole career.

But now? There’s new life in Detroit. And Barry sees it. “Oh yeah, I mean, it’s definitely been a long time coming,” he said during the EssentiallySports exclusive when asked how it feels to see the Lions finally turning things around. “It’s great to see where the franchise is currently… there are still unfinished business, right?” With Dan Campbell at the helm and Jared Goff leading the charge, the Lions have stacked back-to-back division titles with 12-5 and 15-2 records. But for Barry, the mission isn’t accomplished just yet. The Lions are finally roaring again, but they still owe him a Super Bowl.

He observed that entering the 2025 season, the Lions are not behind the Eagles, who won the Super Bowl last season. “But, not too far behind Philly, you know, who won it all last year. You would think that the Lions are right there at the top of the group when they come to the teams from the NFC… The champs, who may be a favorite this season. And so, and so they got, they got quite a schedule this year. But it’s speaking for a lot of Lions fans. You know, it’s, it’s a long time coming,” he added.

Entering the 2025 season, the Lions boast an elite offense that led the NFL with 564 points last year, powered by QB Goff, star RB Jahmyr Gibbs, and WR Amon-Ra St. Brown. Offensive guru Ben Johnson is no more with the Lions, sure. But the analysts are still optimistic about the Lions, placing them among the top Super Bowl contenders, including the Eagles—another reason why Barry Sanders observed the Lions were not far behind Philly.

Meanwhile, speaking of DL resurgence, Aidan Hutchinson returns healthy, backed by DJ Reader, Tyleik Williams, and Roy Lopez. The unit looks deep and disruptive. CBS Sports expert Jimmie Kaylor lists Detroit among his top futures picks alongside Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Taken all together, there are plenty of reasons why Barry Sanders has regained his faith in the Lions and is optimistic about their 2025 season. After all, the Lions’ legend believes in Coach Campbell’s coaching.

You should give Coach Campbell all the credit—Barry Sanders

Before Dan Campbell took the Lions’ helm back in 2021, the Lions were anything but a stable team under former head coach Matt Patricia. He served the Lions for a little more than a couple of seasons and left with a poor 13-29 record. A 6-10 in his first year, followed by 3-12 in the next, and a mid-season firing after a 4-7 record. The Lions then brought Coach Campbell, and he laid out his plan simply, “This team is going to take on the identity of this city. This city’s been down, and it’s found a way to get up,” he said in his introductory press conference.

“This team’s going to be built on, we’re going to kick you in the teeth… We’re gonna get knocked down and on the way up, we’re going to bite a kneecap off… Before long we’re going to be the last one standing.” The start of Campbell’s tenure wasn’t up to the mark, but he eventually led his team to three consecutive winning seasons. No wonder ex-NFLer Barry Sanders gives credit to Coach Campbell for the team’s success.

“Well, you give Coach Campbell all the credit, right?” Barry Sanders said this in a reply to Andrew Whitelaw’s question on how much credit Campbell deserves during the EssentiallySports exclusive. “I mean, you know, every year he’s been there, you’ve seen like improvement. You see, you see how he does business, you see how he treats the players, how he is able to get players to respond, you know, when the culture change, you know, how he’s changed the game in a lot of ways, right?  You know, no one 20 years ago would say, yeah, I’m going to go for it on fourth down every time… Or 75% of the time, whatever it is, right? “

If there’s anything that Coach Campbell is well-known for, then it’s his absolute fourth-down aggression. A “go-for-it” approach. Since 2021, the Lions have led the league in fourth-down attempts, a record 123 times. In those attempts, Campbell’s team has been successful 52.8 percent and converted 52.5% of its fourth-down attempts in 2023. All credit goes to Campbell’s instincts.

“I mean, there’s certain great coaches that are rolling over in the grade, like what is this guy doing? But that’s what it’s taken to get the Lions back, being relevant. And that kind of thing has instilled certain confidence, I think, in players, right? You know, so he deserves all the credit,” Barry Sanders added during the ES Exclusive chat. The head coach’s decisions were crucial, sure. But they turned out in the team’s favor. All in all, the Lions haven’t won a Super Bowl yet. But Coach Campbell would like to flip the script this season. And like Detroit, Barry Sanders is also eyeing that historic day.