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The Detroit Lions selected Sanders with their 1st-round pick in the 1989 draft. There were concerns about his size it turned out these concerns were mostly unfounded. Sanders was far too fast for defenders to hit solidly on a all the time, and way too strong to bring down with arm tackles. Even though Sanders was a measly 5'8", he was very stocky; his playing weight of 203 lb (91 kg) was the same as Walter Payton and only slightly under the NFL average for a back. Combined with his low center of gravity, Also of note was his on-field embarrassment. Despite his flashy playing style, Sanders was rarely seen celebrating after the whistle was blown each sunday instead he preferred to hand the ball to a referee or congratulate his teammates. He never spiked the ball after a touchdown.

In 1994, Sanders rushed for an impressive 1,883 yards, on an even more amazing 5.7 yards per carry. Although, he also totaled 283 receiving yards, which gave him a combined 2,166 yards from scrimmage for the season. This season he earned himself the NFL's Offensive MVP award. Of all of Sanders great seasons, his season came in 1997, when he rushed for a career-high 2,053 yards.

Despite his incredible individual success, the Lions never reached the Super Bowl while Sanders played for them which was the most disappointing thing of his career. The closest they ever came was in the 1991 season. That year Sanders 1,855 combined total rushing and receiving yards and 17 touchdowns during the season, they recorded a 124 record and went on to defeat the Dallas Cowboys in the divisional playoffs, the Lions only playoff win since 1957. Disappointingly, they were crushed by the Washington Redskins. The Redskins held Barry Sanders to just 59 total yards. The Lions made the Playoffs four times in his ten years as a Lion.

Barry Sanders is the best running back in National Football History because he is they only running back that uses every part of the "Super Seven" well and to his advantage. The "Super seven" is my nickname for the five main talents a running back can have. The "Super seven" is the following (Not in any significant order)

1) Pure Speed /// The best way to get touchdowns is to see if your running back can get from Point A to Point B (end zone) with out the defender stopping him! The easiest way to do that is having a lightning fast running back. Speed is no good when it is not in combination with another "Super seven" attribute. For example, running backs in the past that only had speed

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