A different era for sure. I can make this short and simple.
I believe the current common career average for running backs in the NFL is around 3 years. That’s just the modern statistics.
Barry Sanders played 10 seasons.
It just makes me chuckle, because Barry gave us a whole decade… and it wasn’t good enough.
So, honestly, I don’t find Barry retiring to be as confusing and shocking as a previous generation did.
The dust has settled a bit. 10 seasons at running back is more than fine. Barry was also amplified as being a weirdo… and he was a bit. Still, if you lose a passion for the game, at least Barry was honest about it.