SAGINAW, Mich. Where is Barry Sanders?
He has been spotted at the airport. Reporters and televisiontrucks have staked out his home. His father's phone in Wichita,Kan., has been ringing off the hook.
Despite local headlines this weekend that read " `Honest,' It'sOver for Barry" and "There Is No Hope," there remains a convictionamong Lions fans that Sanders' retirement is a ruse designed toforce a trade from a losing team.
Why else would Sanders, 31, walk away now when he'd surely gainthe 1,458 yards needed to pass Bears Hall of Famer Walter Payton andbecome the NFL's all-time leading rusher this season?
"What Barry told me, and I can relay it to you almost verbatim,is that he has a lot of records and having another record doesn'tmean that much to him," said Jocko Hughes, a friend and confidant ofSanders' who also works as the Lions' director of security.
"Barry has a lot of respect for Walter Payton. He said: `Here's aman who is sick, and if that record stays intact, it's fine with me.I want him to have it. I want him to know it's safe.' "
Hughes, a large, affable man who worked 28 years in the DetroitPolice Department before retiring with the rank of third deputychief, is the only member of the Lions' organization who has talkedto Sanders since he announced his retirement July 28. He recentlyreturned from a five-night stay with Sanders' father, William, at thefamily home.
Hughes said Sanders didn't retire to preserve Payton's record, butthat the all-time rushing title alone wasn't enough to keep himplaying. Payton, who is still awaiting a liver transplant, had saidhe would like to be present when Sanders broke the record.
"Barry said he retired because he's been playing football for 22years, and that's enough," Hughes said. "From his childhood throughhigh school, college and 10 years in the pros, he's been pounding thegrass and the Astroturf and asphalt for a long time. He's finished.He's through."
Hughes said Sanders told him he bears no grudges against anymembers of the Lions' front office or coaching staff and that hewould eventually sit down with team ownership. Still, the timingand method of Sanders' retirement have been the subject of muchdebate in Detroit.
Sanders never called the Lions directly, announcing his departurethrough his agents, David Ware and Lamond Smith, and a six-paragraphstatement posted on the Web site of his hometown newspaper inWichita.
Lions coach Bobby Ross, who would love Sanders to return, istired of addressing the issue and insists the team has moved beyondit in the last three weeks.
"What can you do?" Ross said, repeating Sanders' statement aboutplaying for more than two decades and tiring of it.
"We have moved on. I think our team has handled it very well.From the day we came in here and knew he wasn't there, they havemoved right on with no distractions."
Running back Ron Rivers, who is Sanders' closest friend on theteam and might replace him in the starting lineup, admitted he'stired of talking about the issue.
"We've been talking about it for three weeks," Rivers said. "He'sgone. There is nothing else to say about it."
Rivers can flash a Sanders-like move every once in a while, butthe Lions might be hard-pressed to sustain a running game with mereflashes. Ross concedes the Lions will pass first this season,relying on gifted wide receivers, including Herman Moore andGermane Crowell, to help overcome the loss of Sanders.
Still, there's talk that Sanders' retirement may mean the Lionswill replace the Bears in the NFC Central basement.
"There are definitely no expectations for this team from an NFLstandpoint," said former Bears safety Mark Carrier, an unrestrictedfree agent at year's end who figures this will be his third and finalseason in Detroit.
"I'd say the Barry factor could be to our advantage if weunderstand how to use it right. Everyone has to pick up their game.You often see that happen when a team loses a player and everyonebecomes a bit more responsible.
"There is life after Barry, just as there was life after Payton inChicago and after (Mike) Singletary."
Hughes, who along with Sanders' father asked the player torethink his retirement and return to the Lions, now said heunderstands why Sanders walked away. That puts him in the minorityin Detroit, where a recent television poll asking if the team shouldhonor Sanders produced a 72 percent negative reaction.
"That made me downhearted," Hughes said. "It's not right.Because he didn't want to wait until he's crippled or lame, peopleare going to resent him?"
Sanders has kept a low profile. He enjoyed a European vacation,traveled to Hilton Head, S.C., and stayed at a local hotel uponreturning to a media swarm outside his house. He is currently inOklahoma visiting with his son, Barry Jr., whom the player sharesjoint custody of with a former girlfriend. There has been talk thatSanders may be planning to marry his current girlfriend soon or mayenjoy his bachelor life now that he's retired.
He owes the team $5.6 million to repay the signing bonus hereceived on a contract extension two years ago, but lawyers are sureto quibble about that money for some time.
And there will always be speculation that Sanders might returnnext season, with the Lions, of course, who retain his rights despitethe layoff. After all, that record is waiting for him.
"Barry is a very kindhearted person; there is no doubt aboutthat," Carrier said when asked if he thought Sanders really wantedPayton to retain the rushing record.
"I know when we've been out and about and out to dinner, thesubject of the rushing record never came up. It was just never upfor discussion. He never talked about any of his achievements infootball. Now, he always wanted to talk about what a goodbasketball player he was and how he could play in the NBA, but therushing record was never a topic of discussion. It was never a bigdeal to him."
Apparently not.
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