Sports Deviance

I'm going to talk about one sport deviant that changed the game of professional football forever. This isn't the normal "deviance" you would expect someone to write about. When people think of a deviant, they thing about someone who does bad things and breaks tons of rules. Not in this case. This article was about a man who took the flashy game of professional football and showed how humble he was and he much integrity he beheld. This article is about Barry Sanders, the 5'7" 200 pound running back who never showed off, never chased records, and was far smaller than most running backs seen in that day in age. Opposition said Sanders never took a big hit because he always made his opponents play of balance and out of their comfort zone by being shifty and keeping a level head. No one could talk trash to Sanders because nothing got to him and he was unbelievably kind. Fans couldn't believe it. Sanders would run 20, 30, 50 yards for a score and wouldn't celebrate. He would simply hand the ball back to the ref and walk back to the sideline. He came from humble beginnings and only received one scholarship offer from Oklahoma State University where he won the Heisman Trophy, which now sits on his father's shelf behind his father's beloved OU Sooners helmet. The year he retired from the NFL, before the 1999 season, he was in his prime and was just over a thousand yards from breaking Walter Peyton's rushing record of 16,172 career rushing yards, which would have been easily obtainable for Sanders if he would have played that last season. This fact did not bother him, and he had no desire to go for that record. The one player that he played behind in his football career, Thurman Thomas, said that Barry Sanders was the greatest running back to step foot on the field in a duel-interview, in which Barry replied, "Thank you Thurman, but that statement is not correct."