Barry Sanders: What Does A Running Back Have To Do To Win MVP?

All right, I'm here with Barry Sanders at Radio Row ahead of the Super Bowl.

He's joining us on behalf of Amgen.

Thank you so much for taking the time.

Really appreciate it.

I wanted to talk to you about NFL honors last night actually because Christian McCaffrey, a running back, was up for several nominations and awards.

Um, he was a candidate for MVP.

Obviously Matthew Stafford won MVP, but he had such a great season.

The last time that a running back won MVP was 2012, Adrian Peterson .

So what more do running backs need to do?

Oh, I know.

I mean, I, I think it helps to maybe run for 2000 yards, you know, but, but, but Christian, I mean, if you add, you know, his receiving yards and running, you know, um, he was just about, just about 2000 yards.

He had, he had a phenomenal year.

But at the same time, um, being from Detroit, I, I do have an affinity for Matthew Stafford and his family and his daughters, um, so.

Christian had a great year as well as others, but I, I think Matthew was definitely the best player, um, in the planet this year.

And, uh, you know, just what, what he's, the level that he's playing at at this point, um, you know, I mean, so I, I, I think, you know, I speak for some people in Detroit, not everyone, but some people who still root for Matt, um, still kind of feel, um, connected to a lot of his success, you know, so, but anyway , you asked me about Christian, um.

No, hey, Christian, man, it was, it was great to see him come back, uh, with such force, um, you know, from being injured, I think it was last year, um, you know, and, and, um, seeing him come back better than ever, um, with a, with a chance to, you know, making a deep playoff run.

Um, they had every, every opportunity to, to be here in the, in the Super Bowl, um, and obviously, you know, came up a little short, but to see him, um, back to his old form, Christian.

Um, as a running back and as someone, uh, certainly who enjoyed his success, uh, in the league as well from even going back to watching him in college, so, um, it was great to see.

He won Comeback Player of the Year.

He's obviously an amazing athlete.

I want you to give me your top five running backs in the NFL right now.

Oh wow, is he in there?

Top 5.

Top 5.

Like right now, right now, right , right on the spot.

OK, let's, let's start with, um, let's start with Derrick Henry , right?

Let's start with Derek and then let's, let's go to Saquan, right?

Let's go to Saquan, um.

Bijon, Jamir Gibbs, you know, #3.

Both of those guys are #3.

Both of those guys are number 3.

Bijon and Jamir, um, yeah, I, I would say, yeah, you could, you could throw Christian, yeah, Christian is number 4, right?

Yeah, he's number 4.

Christian's number 4, and number 5, would be maybe Achn from Miami.

A Chan, I mean, it's, it's.

Yeah, I, I'll go with that for right now of good players.

I'll go, I'll go with that.

I love some, I love you , uh, throwing some Lions love though with Jamir Gibbs.

That's David Montgomery, David Montgomery.

I mean, you know, we a lot, a lot of good players to pick from, but, but yeah, so, you know, the Lions had a tough season, obviously they, they got plagued with some injuries, but from your perspective, I, I don't know how much if you watch them, uh, still closely, but as a former Lion, what do you think went wrong for the team this year?

Well, it was a tough battle in the division, right?

When you think about the fact that the Bears won the division, winning 11 games, the rest, the, the rest of the division had 9 games, you know, um, the Vikings, the Lions, um.

And who am I missing?

The Vikings, Lions, and Packers.

We all had, they all had 9 wins, and the winner, I mean, it was, it was, it was a dogfight.

And, and you look at the Lions were right in, right in the mix, um, really leading the division or tied, uh, near the top until the very end of the season when, you know, we dropped 3 out of the last 4 games.

Um, and then the one that hurt the most was the second to the last game in Minnesota.

Um, when playoffs were on the line, then to drop that game was tough.

A lot of, a lot of mistakes.

But, but, but my point is we were, we were there right until the end.

Um, you know, it's a tough division.

The, the Bears, uh, took a stranglehold on the division, you know, give, give coaches Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams and all those guys great credit, um, you know, to, to turn around, uh, a franchise that fast is, is remarkable.

So they deserve a lot of credit.

Um, but it, but it's always been a dogfight in that division, right?

Um, so when you ask me what, what went wrong, I, you know, I think, um, it's always been competitive.

I think we're still right there where we need to be.

Um, a few things, um, you know, had a thing, a few things going, um, a little bit different than, you know, I, I think we would have been right there, you know, so I don't, I don't think there's any need for any drastic changes.

We'll see what we do in the draft, um, you know, in free agency, but.

I don't, I don't think we're far off.

They got a new OC.

Absolutely.

We, we do have a new OC, and you know, it's only been a couple of years ago that we were, we were in the NFC championship game, right?

So we, I don't, I don't think we're far off.

So from your perspective, do you think the Lions Super Bowl window is still open?

Absolutely.

I, I, I think that, that, that's really what I'm trying to say is that, yeah, we're, we're still, um, we're still a very relevant team in that division.

And then, and then NFC I think we're still one of the teams to beat, um, and, and, you know, I think I speak for a lot of Detroit Lions fans when I say that yes, our, our, the playoff win, the, the Super Bowl window is still open.

Um, and we still have great players, uh, on our roster, and, um, and so there's no reason why we can't be in the Super Bowl here soon.

All right, well, I know that you are a heart attack survivor, so I wanna ask you, how's your health doing and also if you could talk to me about what you're doing with Amgen, that'd be awesome.

Oh, absolutely, yeah, my, my, um, I did, uh, experience a heart attack, uh, the summer of 2024, and, um, and I'm excited to be able to work now with Amgen on just raising awareness, um, you know, and, and people getting people to understand.

That, um, you know, they should really consult with their doctor about their LDLC or bad cholesterol.

Um , it's something that when I experienced my heart attack, it wasn't something I, I didn't understand the symptoms.

I just kind of had a slight burning in my chest and I just assumed it was heartburn and, and come to find out a lot of heart attack and stroke victims don't understand the signs, um, and so we want people to go, go and consult with your doctor, um, know your number, um.

You know, find out what your LDLC number is, and the earlier you can find out, the better, um, you know, the better your outcome outcome is gonna be.

And so if you go to attackheartsease.

com/documentary, you can find out your testing options, um, you know, but it's certainly just about, um, raising awareness and understanding that, you know, I'm, I'm fortunate to be a, a survivor of, um, a heart attack, um, you know, and we want fans to have all the great information.

Uh, so they can know where they are.

Yeah, all right, before I let you go, I gotta ask you about a little bit of a hot topic that's been stirring .

So some NFL vets have been critical about today's NFL, calling the game, uh, soft, if you will, saying that it lacks physicality, toughness.

What are your thoughts on that?

Do you agree?

No, I don't, I don't agree.

I mean, the game, the game has always evolved and it's certainly different than the game that I played in the 90s, um, you know, and, and the game that I played in the 90s was different than the game they played in the 70s and 80s.

Um, you know, if you, if you go back, you know, however many years you'll, you'll see guys, uh, defensive backs able to closeline wide receivers.

I mean, you know, I mean, You know, and so they, those are things you couldn't do in my day, um, you know, but, but so the, the game has always evolved, the, the rules have always evolved, um.

You know, there, there, there are, uh, rule changes that have happened, but the players are bigger, faster, stronger than ever, um, you know, and whenever I looked very tiny sitting next to him.

No, whenever I go to a game, I was like, man, these guys, I, I can't believe that I played this game at some point.

Yeah, absolutely.

So I, but you know, that's not the first time I've heard that, um, but I, but again, I think the, the game is certainly.

Uh, as popular as it's ever been, um, you know, and, and, um, there's still great physical football being played out there , you know, and, and this week is, is, uh, no exception when you have the, the, you know, they got the two defenses in this game.

You know, two very physical, um, you know, dominant defenses.

Which team are you rooting for, Hawks or Patriots?

I mean, I don't, I, I, I would say if I had to choose which one I thought might win, I would, I would say probably the Hawks.

Probably the Hawks.

I don't, I don't know if there's a clear odds-on favorite in my mind.

Um, I love seeing the new blood in the game, right?

I mean, who, who would have imagined, right, these two, these two, Would, um, be the last two standing.

Um, but I think, you know, Sam Darnold's story, um, you know, I, I think, um, the way he's played, he's played as well as any quarterback in the game this, this season.

Um, you know, I , I, um, I still live in Michigan, had a chance to see Kenneth Walker, the 3rd play a lot in college.

Um, you know, I love the career he's had.

Uh, I'm, I'm pretty sure that the running game for both of these teams will, will factor in, um, you know, and I, I, the way I see it, both teams don't mind running the ball, um, you know, and so it, it should be a great matchup, but I'm, I'm thinking probably the Hawks will, will edge them out in a very close one.

All right, we'll see.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

I really appreciate it.

Very welcome.