Whereas imitation is commonly a type of flattery, there’s one circumstance the place Barry Sanders would relatively not see Saquon Barkley comply with in his footsteps.
A Corridor of Fame working again for the Detroit Lions, Sanders authored arguably essentially the most surprising retirement within the historical past of sports activities when he determined to hold up his cleats for good simply earlier than the beginning of the 1999 season. Sanders’ resolution to retire at age 31 and on the peak of his powers was lately alluded to by Barkley, who mentioned that may see himself retiring similarly, maybe as early as subsequent offseason.
“I would say, maybe after the Lions win a Super Bowl, and I feel like the Eagles have a chance to maybe win another one,” Sanders advised CBS Sports activities when requested what kind of recommendation he would give to Barkley in mild of his latest retirement feedback. “So, you should stick around for a little while. As a fan, I’m enjoying watching him play. I still see him as still being very young. I’m excited with what he’s been able to do in Philadelphia, and really, just his journey. He was written off by the Giants, and to see the kind of year he had last year, I know he still has a lot of great years left in him.”
Barkley, 28, is coming off one of many best seasons a working again has ever put collectively. Along with changing into the ninth participant to hurry for two,000 yards in a daily season (a fraternity that additionally consists of Sanders, who rushed for two,053 yards through the 1997 season), Barkley broke Terrell Davis’ file for essentially the most dashing yards in a complete season. Together with the postseason, Barkley rushed for a whopping 2,504 yards, trumping Davis’ earlier mark of two,476 yards.
Final yr, Barkley additionally joined Davis and fellow Corridor of Famer Emmitt Smith as the one gamers to win a dashing title and a Tremendous Bowl in the identical yr. Not dangerous for a participant who, as Sanders alluded to, was basically lower unfastened by the Giants final offseason.
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Given his present state of affairs in Philadelphia, Sanders is clearly a proponent of Barkley prolonging his profession. And whereas Barkley’s latest retirement feedback had been shocking, Sanders mentioned that it was considerably comprehensible.
“Sometimes, players feel that [way], and once they get into camp and into the season, they feel different,” Sanders mentioned. “Philadelphia feels like a great place, a great home for him, so hopefully it’s just sort of a temporary thing that he’s experiencing, that he’ll continue to enjoy the success there with that great team that they’ve assembled. I’m pretty sure he and the Lions will be fighting it out to get to the big one this year and years to come. But I wish him the best with whatever he decides to do, though.”
It seems, based mostly on his feedback this week at Eagles minicamp, that Barkley plans to take Sanders’ recommendation.
“I don’t think I’ll ever lose the passion for the game,” Barkley mentioned. “The retiring factor, I believe that caught a bit fireplace on social media. I don’t plan on retiring any time quickly. The query was requested of me, and I don’t have a set date, or what number of years I need to play.
“I would love to play this game as long as God lets me, and my body lets me, so that’s really it.”
