Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson, interviewed by ESPN's Up Close on Wednesday, says Barry Sanders' decision to retire was "not about the money, it's about winning football games." Dickerson continued: "I'm gonna tell you, when you're a great player, like Barry's a great player, it's almost embarrassing walking onto the football field no matter what kind of numbers you have, because you want to win football games. That's what it's all about."

Dickerson also told ESPN's Gary Miller: "The problem you guys are going to have is trying to catch him, and get him to say something, because he doesn't talk. He just plays, he just plays football, and you just never know what a guy like him is thinking."

The following is the complete transcript of Dickerson's comments regarding Sanders' situation.

Miller: How do you feel about this announcement (Barry Sanders)?

Dickerson: Well, I heard about it on the golf course today; a guy came out and said "Did you hear that Barry Sanders retired?" I wasn't shocked, but a guy has to do what he thinks is best for him. For a guy like Barry, where the whole load is on him, it is because he's such a great player and people expect him to have the 1,500-, 2,000-yard seasons. After a while, you just can't take it anymore.

Miller: What are your impressions as a fellow all-time great, who knows what it takes to be a top running back? What did you two talk about when he was closing in on your career rushing total?

Dickerson: We would talk about great seasons. He would say "Eric, man, I like the way you play," and I'd say "I like the way you play, too." That kind of stuff. But the thing I like about Barry is he's real quiet, he's quiet and keeps to himself. You see, the problem you guys are going to have is trying to catch him, and get him to say something, because he doesn't talk. He just plays, he just plays football, and you just never know what a guy like him is thinking. I mean, he's great. We know he's great, and he still has some years left. He would still be a great player whether it's with the Detroit Lions or if it's with another football team. Or, if he stops playing right now, he would still be, I think, probably one of the greatest, if not the greatest player, that has played the position.

Miller: Sanders was frustrated with the Lions' competitiveness. They went 5-11 last season. Can you relate to that, you went 1-15 with the Colts one year?

Dickerson: It's very hard because it's frustrating. I'm gonna tell you, when you're a great player, like Barry's a great player, it's almost embarrassing walking onto the football field no matter what kind of numbers you have, because you want to win football games. That's what it's all about.

To me, it was about winning and to him it's about winning too. It's not about the money, it's about winning football games. When we were playing against the Dallas Cowboys, they were 9-0 and we were 1-8, you're thinking, "what chance do we have?" You hate to think like that, but then it comes down to just that, "what chance do we have."

And then I have to go out and try to play as well as I possibly can, knowing actually that I may not even have a chance (to win), and that's frustrating, it really is. And to be a great player and to be in a situation like that, it's just frustrating to him.

Miller: After being traded to the Raiders, the media said you were a traitor, so you can relate to some of the things being written about Barry Sanders?

Dickerson: Yeah, you can relate to that type of stuff. But see, they're not Barry Sanders, not Eric Dickerson either. They don't know what you go through at night, what you go through when you go home, what you hear, how you feel. I mean, you must understand that Barry Sanders and any guy who's ever put on a football uniform, we have feelings too. We're not just football players, that is very much secondary, that is secondary to life.

Just like me: I play football, my football career is over. One day, the young guys who play right now, the Emmitt Smiths and the Terrell Davises, they'll be sitting right where I'm sitting and their football careers will be over with. There's no going back. You have to think about life after football and yourself, and most definitely you have to think about your health, because football is a sport that can put you in a bad situation. I'm in pretty good shape, but still I have things that bother me a lot from playing football.

Miller: If not for injuries, your career should have lasted longer than it did.

Dickerson: If not for the injury, I probably would have played a little bit longer, maybe, and honestly that's a maybe because the pressure for me was sometimes overwhelming. I swear, sometimes I would go on the field and say "God, I just don't feel like living up to these expectations." People would expect, even before the game, and say "what are you going to do today, Dick, how many yards, 125, 130, 150?" At one point, 125 was a bad day for me, I had to have 150, 175, 190, that's a lot of pressure. For a guy like Barry Sanders, that's a lot of pressure. It's like you expect it, other people expect it, fans expect it and they're saying "he's gonna break at any moment, he's gonna break any moment." Let's say he has 100 yards that day, they're saying "Barry didn't play that well!" (laughing).

Miller: Is it impossible not to think about what your public image is?

Dickerson: I'll say it again: they don't know what he thinks, we don't know what he thinks.

Miller: Does it hurt you when inaccurate things are written about you?

Dickerson: Well, I'm not a big fan of the media, I think you know that. Honestly, a lot of players are not; we tolerate the media, we tolerate you guys. I hate to say it but we just tolerate it because we have to. I didn't like coming to talk to the media, but we had to or they would fine us, that's the way it was. I think he probably feels indifferent about it. He feels like "hey, I know what I want to do, I know what I'm thinking, I know what's best for Barry Sanders." I can't, I can only speculate. Will it hurt his feelings? Maybe, maybe not.

I think some people may dislike his decision, some people will stand by his decision, some players understand his decision, some players won't understand his decision. To a point, I understand his decision. If he sits out, that's his decision. If he comes back to play then, will they accept him back? Of course they will, I mean, why wouldn't they? Man, most definitely they will have him back.

Miller: Knowing that Sanders would have surpassed Walter Payton's career rushing total, fans are surprised because he's at the precipice of that all-time achievement?

Dickerson: It's funny that you say that, because honestly that record (Payton's), that was a record, it's a great record, but that record did not mean everything to me. I mean if I got it, I got it; if I didn't, I didn't. I didn't get it. I didn't loose sleep over it like "man, if I would have done this, if I would have stayed with the Rams," I don't think about that type of stuff. And I think if you're a great player like Barry, he probably doesn't think about it either. Because he knows he can get it, he knows it's right there, he can reach out and touch it. If he plays another year or two years that record is his, so in a way, to him, that's his record already.