| | There will be a running back named Sanders at the Detroit Lions training camp this July. His name: Charlie Sanders Jr., son of the Lions' assistant director of pro scouting who was signed as a free agent out of Ohio State last Friday.
|  | | Barry Sanders' return may force his exit from Detroit. |
News surfaced Monday afternoon, however, that a Sanders of a very different caliber might -- just might, mind you -- be on hand for those sweltering two-a-days at Saginaw Valley State University.
Peter J. Schaffer, of All Pro Sports & Entertainment in Denver, one of Barry Sanders' myriad agents, visited with Dan Patrick on ESPN Radio and calculatingly whetted the appetite of football fans everywhere.
His marketing mission? To keep the dream alive for the return of the NFL's second-leading rusher of all-time. To drum up some interest in rushing-thin teams in places like Kansas City and New England. This is the sort of thing, after all, that keeps agents in business. Not surprisingly, Schaffer suggested there was a chance the retired Sanders might show up for the 2000 training camp in an attempt to force a trade.
"Obviously, that's a possibility," Schaffer said.
Obviously, given Sanders' laissez faire attitude, it's a remote possibility at best. What Schaffer was doing Monday was posturing. He all but begged the Lions to give him the authorization to explore possible trades.
"What really has to happen is everybody has to sit there and bury the proverbial hatchets and put all this petty bickering behind us and realize some absolutes that, A, he's never going to play for the Lions and, B, that it's great for the game to have this young man playing football," Schaffer said. "I see a tremendous scenario. I see the Lions calling us up and saying, 'Listen, you guys are authorized to work a trade.' I then call Barry and say, 'Barry, is there a possibility?' In that case, what happens is, A, the Lions get cap relief, and, B, the Lions can get some value. Maybe you get a first-(round draft choice), two firsts, a first and a second, whatever as opposed to not getting anything. Three, you create a bridge -- quoting our president -- to Barry Sanders whereby the greatest player in your franchise history will actually come back to your new stadium, might even let you retire his number. You know, right now he's going to go into the Hall of Fame with no team. He will not go in as a Lion."
And I see wings on elephants.
Barry Sanders will actually come back to the Lions' new stadium? Might even let them retire his number in silver and blue? Oh, the joy, the rapture.
Let's review:
Last July, Sanders told the Lions he was retiring after 10 seasons and an accumulation of 15,269 yards -- 1,457 behind the all-time record by the late Walter Payton. This despite a generous contract bearing his signature that had four years to, as they say, run.
The Lions, who took a serious salary-cap hit, respectively bit their lips and moved on. They handed the ball to Greg Hill (542 yards), Ron Rivers (295 yards), Sedrick Irvin (133) and Cory Schlesinger (124). They were ranked No. 28 among 31 teams in rushing.
They solved that nasty little problem by recently signing Jacksonville free agent James Stewart to a five-year contract worth $25 million. Coach Bobby Ross insists the running game is a leading priority, and in the April 28-30 minicamp the early returns were quite good.
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If
there's any possibility he's going to show up, the
Lions have to say to themselves, 'Aren't we better
off getting something in terms of a trade for him,
and let's explore that possibility. ” |
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— Peter Schaeffer, agent of Barry Sanders |
Sanders? All he has done through his father and agents is disrespect the Lions. He has refused to pay back the two-thirds of the $11 million signing bonus Detroit says it is owed and has repeatedly said he won't play again for the Lions or go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in a Lions jersey.
And now that Sanders, only 31, is getting happy feet again, the Lions won't play ball. Small wonder.
Schaffer attempted to persuade the Lions with reason.
"If there's any possibility he's going to show up, the Lions have to say to themselves, 'Aren't we better off getting something in terms of a trade for him, and let's explore that possibility,' " Schaffer said. "The fact he doesn't want to play for us, it's like if your wife says 'I'm done with the marriage,' do you sit there and force her to stay in an unloving marriage or do you say, 'OK, let's move on with our lives.'
"I think Barry would like to play in the right situation. But he's not one to entertain hypothetical situations, and that's the problem. You know Barry's favorite line is 'That sounded great to me,' but that's not saying yes or no."
Schaffer said he talked to Sanders as recently as last Friday, but that he's not sure if Sanders really wants to play again. Less than two weeks ago, Sanders attended a Detroit Pistons-Miami Heat playoff game with his son (he was roundly booed) and was asked by a Lansing writer if he wanted to play again.
"You gotta be kidding me," Sanders said.
It sounds like Schaffer is calling on the Lions to reignite his client's love for the game with a dozen roses, a box of chocolates and some pillow talk. Schaffer would love to have Sanders walk into training camp.
"It would mean they have about $10 million tied up in the running back position," Schaffer said. "It would be tremendous leverage if Barry would show up. They would then have to make a decision. They couldn't cut James Stewart, because they just gave him all that signing bonus.
"That would be an agent's fantasy. I mean, a dream to have that type of leverage. The problem is the client, in this case, would never want to use that type of subterfuge to get something that he believes that he should be able to get by showing good faith and by saying, 'Listen, let's work this out.' "
The 2000 season already promises to be an experience in dislocation. Future Hall of Famers Steve Young, Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders could all be playing for new teams. Will Barry Sanders follow?
It's up to the Lions. At the moment, anyway, they don't seem terribly inclined toward helping Sanders. For obvious reasons. And even if they could get some high picks, the teams that need Sanders the most have salary cap issues of their own.
"The league needs him -- everybody needs him," Schaffer said. "It's just a question of finding a way to work it out without violating anybody's principals."
Greg Garber is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. | |
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