Zero2Cool
13 years ago
http://mitchalbom.com/d/journalism/3338/sanders-gives-lions-vision-greatness 

The eyes, they say, are the windows to the soul. They are also rather important if you want to know where you're going. So when Barry Sanders took a finger in the eye in the third quarter, and he stopped running in the middle of the play and pushed his hand through the small opening in his helmet, reaching for his cornea as instinctively as a child, helpless for a moment, then down on his knees, well, the nearly sold- out Silverdome seemed to explode in angered activity, like a parent who had just seen the bully smack their kid.

The fans showered the Packers with thunderous boos. Lions players screamed at the referees for a penalty. Wayne Fontes sprinted across the field
-- a sideline-to-sideline dash -- in frantic concern that his star might be wounded.

"I run out for all my guys," Fontes would later admit, "but I was going a little faster than usual on that one."

And why not? You can write the Lions' story any way you choose, from side to side, from top to bottom, backwards, forwards, inside-out, it doesn't matter, it will all come down to this: No. 20. Barry Sanders. It begins and ends with him.

And so, when Sanders was temporarily blinded, it became a focal moment of a game that already had plenty of in-your-face highlights and lowlights. It is always like this when the Lions play the Packers in December with something on the line. It goes back to the outdoor games, in the mud and snow, the days that earned this part of the football map the nickname "black and blue division."

It was black and blue Sunday. So much so that, late in the game, you saw a normally reserved defensive lineman, Robert Porcher, charge Packers quarterback Brett Favre and begin screaming, "Don't you run my side! Don't you think of running my side! You will not get anything on my side!"

His outburst would bring a penalty flag, and, because this was late in the fourth quarter, and the Pack was driving for a winning score, well, it was not what you call a smart play.

But it was an emotional one, from the heart, borne in the drama of the fan noise that was 100 airplane engines all afternoon.

The noise that began with Barry.

He has no one to top but himself

He broke a record Sunday. Best rushing season ever for a Lion. Sanders had 188 yards Sunday. He has 1,594 for the season. He has done this with three games still to go.

The record he broke was his own.

That is where Sanders is now: surpassing his own excellence. Before the eye poke, he had already led the Lions back into the game, with three runs in the second quarter that left you with your mouth hanging open -- not to mention what it did to the Packers who tried to tackle him.

A first down, up the middle for 21 yards. A second down, off left tackle for 34 yards. Another second down, around the end, past everybody, for a touchdown.

And after the eye poke? He got even better. The Lions were trailing the Pack by four points. The whole season was in danger. Playoffs on the ropes. Dave Krieg gave Barry the ball the way he gives it to him so many times, with no promises, no assurances, just a handoff and a look. Sanders did the rest.

He went straight ahead, juked, cut left and began a string of missed tackles and bewildered faces that was straight out of a Keystone Kops movie.

Sean Jones, Green Bay's defensive end, missed him. George Teague, the safety, let him slip. LeRoy Butler, the other safety, couldn't stop him. Barry was off to the races, down the sidelines, and by the time he was knocked out of bounds, 63 yards later, the Lions' season was back to positive.

Sanders? He took a breath, came back one play later, pushed through for eight more yards.

Came back one play later, picked up four more.

Finally, with the ball on the Green Bay 1, his work complete, he jogged off.

Didn't even rub his eye.

Barry was elusive till the end

"I don't want to get religious here," said Fontes, after the Lions converted Sanders' efforts to the winning touchdown, 34-31, a game that kept them alive for the playoffs. "But when the Creator said, 'You're gonna be Barry Sanders,' He was saying from now on, all running backs will look at this guy and see what they want to be."

And here's the most amazing part. When the game was done, the Lions locker room was awash in happiness. The offensive linemen were celebrating Scott Conover's deception touchdown pass -- "Retire his jersey!" Lomas Brown yelled
-- and the defense was feeling good about its efforts in the final seconds. Fontes was hugging people. Dave Krieg was smiling. All over the room, people were looking forward to the next game, seeing a light in this long tunnel of a season, they felt like you want to feel after a long, hard-fought afternoon of football. They felt like winners.

And the man most responsible for that slipped on his clothes in the back room and quietly made his way out the door. No news conferences necessary. No glory needed. Another day, another handful of miracles.

He left without anyone noticing, leaving behind a roomful of teammates who can, thanks mostly to him, see where they're going.

"Mitch Albom - Published: 12/05/1994" wrote:


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Fan Shout
packerfanoutwest (14h) : Report: Aaron Rodgers wants to play in 2025, but not for the Jets
beast (16h) : That's what I told the Police officer about my speed when he pulled me over
packerfanoutwest (22h) : NFL told Bears that Packers’ blocked field goal was legal
packerfanoutwest (22-Nov) : 49ers are underdogs at Packers, ending streak of 36 straight games as favorites
Zero2Cool (22-Nov) : 49ers might be down their QB, DL, TE and LT?
packerfanoutwest (22-Nov) : Jaire Alexander says he has a torn PCL
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : Even with the context it's ... what?
Mucky Tundra (20-Nov) : Matt LaFleur without context: “I don’t wanna pat you on the butt and you poop in my hand.”
beast (20-Nov) : We brought in a former Packers OL coach to help evaluate OL as a scout
beast (20-Nov) : Jets have been pretty good at picking DL
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : He landed good players thanks to high draft slot. He isn't good.
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : He can shove his knowledge up his ass. He knows nothing.
beast (20-Nov) : More knowledge, just like bring in the Jets head coach
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : What? Why? Huh?
beast (19-Nov) : I wonder if the Packers might to try to bring Douglas in through Milt Hendrickson/Ravens connections
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : The Jets fired Joe Douglas, per sources
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : Jets are a mess......
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Pretty sure Jets fired their scouting staff and just pluck former Packers.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Jets sign Anders Carlson to their 53.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : When you cycle the weeks, the total over remains for season. But you get your W/L for that selected week. Confusing.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the total and percentage are the same as the previous weeks
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the total and percentage are the same as the previous weeks
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the totals are accurate..nrvrtmind
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : I don't follow what you are saying. The totals are not the same as last week.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : ok so then wht are the totals the same as last week?
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : NFL Pick'em is auto updated when NFL Scores tab is clicked
Martha Careful (19-Nov) : The offense was OK. Let's not forget the Bear defense is very very good.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : Who updates the leaderboard on NFLPickem?
beast (19-Nov) : Has the Packers offense been worse since the former Jets coach joined the Packers?
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Offense gets his ass in gear, this could be good.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Backup QB helped with three wins. Special Teams contributed to three wins.
bboystyle (18-Nov) : Lions played outside thats why. They scored 16 and 17 in the only 2 outside games this year
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : The rest of the NFL is catching up to Packers ... kicking is an issue throughout league
packerfanoutwest (18-Nov) : Packers DL Kenny Clark: We knew 'we were going to block' Bears' game-winning field goal attempt
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : Lions seem to be throttling everyone, but only (only) got 24 lol maybe the rain is why
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : Packers vs Lions game doesn't seem so bad.
beast (18-Nov) : Dennis Green "They are what we thought they were, and we let them off the hook!"
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : comment of the day Z2Cool "Bears better than we want to admit. Packers worse than we think. It's facts."
Mucky Tundra (17-Nov) : my worst case scenario: Bears fix their oline and get a coach like Johnson from the Lions and his scheme
Zero2Cool (17-Nov) : Bears get OL fixed amd we might have a problem
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : Pretty sure they already have scouting reports on guys who aren't even starting for their college team. The future is now for me.
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : I tend to let Gute and Co. Worry about the future.
beast (17-Nov) : That's great news and Packers need to keep upgrading their OL, DL and DBs this off-season, so missing one guy doesn't kill them
beast (17-Nov) : That's great news and Packers need to keep upgrading their OL, DL and DBs this off-season, so missing one guy doesn't kill them
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : Jaire and Evans Williams are both ACTIVE! Good news.
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : The badgers really need to change the whole offensive scheme. No draws no screens plus the quarterback is marginal
Cheesey (17-Nov) : If the Badgers had a decent QB, they would have won. The guy can't hit a wide open receiver
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : chop block
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : there was a very questionable job Block call that upon viewing replay was very borderline
beast (17-Nov) : How so? (I didn't watch)
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