00:00 I am joined now by one of the greatest running backs,
00:02 if not the greatest in NFL history, Barry Sanders,
00:06 whose documentary "Bye Bye Barry"
00:08 premieres on Amazon on November 21st.
00:11 Before we get into that, I have to ask you,
00:14 having a statue of yourself unveiled outside of Ford Field,
00:17 what was the most memorable experience for you that day?
00:20 - Well, wow, it was a pretty awesome experience.
00:23 I think just sharing it with fans, with Mrs. Ford,
00:30 was there, it was like, you know,
00:32 it was Mrs. Ford's, I think, 98th birthday,
00:34 but she insisted on being at my statue ceremony.
00:38 That part of it was pretty cool.
00:40 And also, you know, having my mom there,
00:42 she didn't leave town too often,
00:46 but she made a special trip to Detroit to celebrate.
00:49 So I would have to say those are probably
00:51 some of my most special memories from that day.
00:54 - You've played your entire career in Detroit.
00:56 You saw some highs and you saw some lows.
00:58 Seeing how well the team is playing now,
01:00 in your opinion, what's got them playing
01:02 at such a high level?
01:04 - Well, I think you gotta give credit to Coach Campbell.
01:07 You know, this has been building for the last three years,
01:10 you know, since Coach Campbell got here.
01:12 I think he's instilled a certain culture
01:15 and expectation in the guys, you know,
01:18 and they're responding, you know,
01:20 it's just a well-constructed roster
01:22 playing great complimentary football
01:24 and really playing up to their potential.
01:27 - When Dan Campbell first stepped in,
01:29 not a lot of fans were fans of him, to be quite honest.
01:33 What has most impressed you about Campbell's current tenure?
01:37 - I think Coach Campbell, Brad Holmes,
01:40 you know, they've just been very consistent.
01:42 They know exactly the kind of player
01:44 they wanna have in the building.
01:46 Even going back to Coach Campbell's first year,
01:49 you know, when we won three games,
01:51 we saw at the end of that season, you know,
01:53 those guys fighting to the end.
01:55 And so, yeah, you, you know,
01:57 and so even fast forward to now,
02:00 you still see guys giving the same effort, you know,
02:05 but now we're playing up to our potential,
02:08 winning those games that we have to win
02:10 to be a playoff team, you know,
02:13 and so I would say those are some of the things
02:15 that I look at as being the difference.
02:17 - Is there a player that most represents you
02:20 right now on the field?
02:21 Who do you think reminds you of yourself?
02:24 - Oh, wow.
02:25 I think, I'd say a little,
02:28 I see maybe a little bit of myself in like Christian McCaffrey,
02:31 maybe even Tyreek Hill.
02:33 I wasn't that fast, but he's kind of shifty.
02:37 He's kind of hard to, it's kind of hard to pin him down,
02:40 you know, so I think a couple of guys like that,
02:42 I would think of just kind of off the top of my head.
02:44 - You in your prime and Tyreek Hill in his prime,
02:47 who wins the 40-yard dash?
02:49 [laughing]
02:50 - Who wins the 40?
02:52 Man, I think he probably,
02:56 yeah, I guess he would probably still win.
02:59 I don't know what his time is.
03:01 - You think so?
03:02 - It's probably faster.
03:03 It's probably a little bit faster than mine, you know,
03:06 but I regrettably have to still give the nod to Tyreek.
03:10 - So then while we're at it,
03:11 who is your running back Mount Rushmore?
03:14 - Well, you gotta have Jim Brown.
03:16 You gotta have Walter Payton.
03:17 You can put two pictures of Walter Payton
03:19 and two pictures of Jim Brown,
03:21 but if I were gonna add two more,
03:22 I would say Jim, Walter, Eric Dickerson, Emmitt Smith.
03:27 Those four, if I'm not including myself.
03:29 - Bye-bye, Barry.
03:30 Like I said, premieres on Amazon on November 21st.
03:32 What do you hope fans take away from this documentary?
03:36 - I hope they get a chance to really see who I am
03:41 and those things that made me the type of player I was,
03:44 the type of person.
03:46 I get a chance to say thank you
03:48 to a lot of people who are instrumental.
03:50 So it gives me a chance to really thank a lot of people
03:53 and really take my time to share my story.
03:57 - Well, we're all very excited for the premiere.
03:59 With that being said,
04:00 thank you so much for joining us at Sports Illustrated.
04:03 I am Melissa Amrita, joined by the legendary Barry Sanders.
04:07 (upbeat music)
04:09 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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