Picture this if you can: You're playing linebacker for an NFL team, and as the ball is snapped, you see the quarterback handing the ball off to the running back, taking quick notice of the direction of the play, as your instincts seem to have sniffed it out. All you have to do now is work off the block, and focus on that running back.

Easy enough right?

Well, not so much, as you have a 300 pound offensive lineman coming at you, and that 5'8 running back just vanished behind that lineman. As you continue your pursuit, a guessing game begins. Which side is that running back going to make his cut on? Will it be the right, or will it be the left?

Your peripheral vision catches a flash of silver to your right, like a pinball being propelled from a sling shot, as you frantically come to the realization that the flash was the running back you were looking for. "Oh s#*%!" surrounds your thoughts, as that running back is already 3 yards passed you. You take a desperate dive of humility,only to faceplant the turf with empty arms, and looking up to see that the ref has raised both arms to deliver the touchdown signal.

Oh, and that running back's name - Barry Sanders.

The good news is that you are not alone, as this was a common feeling that defensive players across the NFL experienced every Sunday when facing the 5'8, 205 pound Detroit Lions running back. The commentary may have been a bit different than "Oh S#*%!," but the thought process was generally the same.

There should have been a support group for these defensive players, and maybe even matching t-shirts reading "Barry Burned Me Too!" I'm sure several players had sleepless nights, on top of nursing hamstring injuries, as Barry Sanders could juke you out of your jock strap.

With moves upon moves, if there was ever a running back in the history of the NFL that had double-jointed ankles, it was Barry Sanders.

In his 10 seasons, Barry Sanders rushed for 15,269 yards, with a staggering 5 yards per carry average. He was voted to the Pro Bowl every season he played.

In 1997,his best season, he became only the third man at the time to join the 2000 yard club, rushing for 2053 yards and 14 total touchdowns(3 receiving.)

Barry Sanders would retire in 1999 at age 31, leaving the question - would he have shattered every record in the book had he played longer? Injury aside, I think it would have been a slam dunk.

As it stands now, Barry Sanders is the third all-time leading rusher, and being inducted to the Hall Of Fame in 1994, his place in history is cemented as one of the best running back to have ever played.

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