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Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders is only 1,458 yards shy of breaking the NFL career rushing record. (Reuters)

"The reason I am retiring is very simple," Sanders said in a statement released yesterday. "My desire to exit the game is greater than my desire to remain in it."

Sanders, 31, leaves football just 1,457 yards short of former Chicago Bear Walter Payton's NFL career rushing record of 16,726. Immediate speculation was that Sanders, bitterly disappointed about the Lions' inability to field a title contender, was trying to force a trade.

Washington Redskins officials said yesterday they will continue to pursue a trade for Sanders, one of only four players in league history to gain more than 2,000 yards in a season. Vinny Cerrato, the Redskins' director of player personnel, said that such a trade is possible but unlikely.

"Nothing's impossible, but it's a mathematical long shot," Cerrato said at the Redskins' training camp in Frostburg, Md.

David Ware, one of Sanders's representatives, indicated that Sanders's retirement is not a ploy.

"He never once said to us, nor did we indicate to the Lions, he wanted to be traded," Ware told ESPN.

Lions Coach Bobby Ross reiterated yesterday that the team does not intend to trade Sanders, and said he believes Sanders would not be willing to play for another club.

But some people around the league seem convinced that Sanders's problem is with the Lions and that he'd be willing to play this season if he's traded.

Redskins sources said they believe there's an outside chance that the Lions could decide to get something in return for Sanders. The Redskins have three first-round choices in next year's college draft, and they apparently are prepared to offer at least one of them for Sanders.

Sanders has four seasons remaining on a six-year, $36 million contract that included an $11 million signing bonus. Under normal circumstances, one-sixth of the signing bonus � about $1.8 million � would count against Detroit's salary cap each season. If the Lions trade Sanders, the remaining $7.3 million of the signing bonus would count against Detroit's salary cap this season.

By placing Sanders on the "reserve-did not report" list, the signing bonus would continue to count $1.8 million per season against Detroit's salary cap, according to NFL executives. If the Lions were to place him on the "reserve-retired" list, their salary-cap hit this season would be $7.3 million.

Sanders did not attend the Lions' mandatory minicamp in May and hadn't spoken with management since the end of the 1998 season. He also reportedly was not happy with Ross, the former University of Maryland head coach, though Sanders denied that was a factor.

"I have enjoyed playing for two great head coaches, Wayne Fontes and Bobby Ross, who are good coaches and leaders," Sanders said in his statement. "I am not involved in a salary dispute of any kind. If I had played this season, I would have earned a more than satisfactory salary. . . . I have searched my heart through and through and feel comfortable with this decision."

Ross said he made at least 10 telephone calls to Sanders and wrote three or four letters to him.

"My personal feeling is that we're looking at a situation where the man got tired of playing the game," Ross said at a news conference in Detroit. "Do I feel that Barry left because of me? No, I don't feel that."

Sanders turned up yesterday in London, where he was met at Gat wick Airport by several reporters and photographers.

"Ten years is a lot of football," he told the Associated Press. "I'm just really not feeling like playing. It's just getting to that point. It's not the same game. Really, I've been battling for the last few years. As I've gotten older, the game has changed in my mind. I'm thinking about doing other things. It's still fun, but not as much fun. It just felt like it was time."

Asked if he might change his mind, he shook his head.

"I don't think that's going to happen. I'm not really thinking about that," adding that he was retiring before he became "old and gray and can't run" and got "kicked out." He also said he didn't feel "unfulfilled" about not playing in the Super Bowl.

"It didn't happen . . . but I can still sleep at night. I'm just going to enjoy life. I have enough things to keep me busy. I'll do something productive, but I don't know exactly what it will be."

During Sanders's 10 seasons in Detroit, the Lions had a 78-82 regular season record and made the playoffs five times, winning one playoff game. Detroit had two 5-11 seasons sandwiched around a 9-7 record in 1997 that earned a wild-card spot.

Pro Football Hall of Fame Capsule

CANTON, Ohio (AP) — Capsule of Barry Sanders inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame:

Barry Sanders
Running Back
5-8, 203
NFL career: 1989-1998 Detroit Lions.
Notes: Selected by Lions in first round (third overall) of 1989 draft. ... Played 10 seasons, 153 games. ... Rushed for 1,000-plus yards in each of 10 seasons, first ever to do so. ... In 1997 became third person to gain 2,000 yards in a season. ... Made pro debut just three days after signing with Lions. ... His 1,470 yards rushing during rookie season were just 10 yards short of the league's best for the year. ... Led all rushers in 1990 (1,304 yards), 1994 (1,883 yards), 1996 (1,553 yards), and 1997 (2,053 yards). ... In 1997, gained 100-plus yards rushing in record 14 consecutive regular-season games. ... Voted league MVP in 1997. ... Capitalized on size by running low to ground, making him less of a target for tacklers. ... Elusive, had uncanny ability to reverse direction seemingly at will. ... First- or second-team All-Pro 10 consecutive seasons. ... First running back to reach five 1,500-yard rushing seasons, and only back to do so in four consecutive seasons (1994-1997). ... Chosen for Pro Bowl 10 times. ... Held nearly all Lions rushing records, including 15,269 yards in career, and numerous NFL records at time of retirement.

Sanders by the numbers

0 -- Number of times Sanders failed to have a 1,000-yard rushing season as a starting running back during his high school, college and pro careers.

1 -- The number of Lions rushing records (out of 10) Sanders does not hold. Among the longest rushing plays, Sanders is tied for No. 2 at 85 yards. Bob Hoernschemeyer holds the record with a 96-yard run (1950). However, of the top 10 longest rushing plays in Lions history, Sanders has five of them.

5 -- Number of 1,500-yard rushing seasons (1991, 1994-97), tops in NFL history. Eric Dickerson and Walter Payton are second with four each.

5.0 -- Yards per carry Sanders averaged over his pro career, the second-highest average of the top 20 rushers on the NFL's career list. Jim Brown has the highest average at 5.2. Sixteen of those 20 running backs averaged 4.4 yards per carry or less.

10 -- Pro Bowl appearances during Sanders' 10 NFL seasons.

14 -- Consecutive 100-yard rushing games, an NFL record. It happened in the final 14 games of the 1997 season as he totaled 2,000 yards during that span (Sanders rushed for a total of 53 yards in his first two games). Marcus Allen is second with 11 consecutive 100-yard games.

15 -- Career touchdown runs of 50 yards or more, most in NFL history. Brown is second with 12.

18 -- Yards of Sanders' first run as an NFL player. After holding out for the entire training camp, Sanders reported just two days before the season-opener against the Arizona Cardinals and entered the game in the third quarter. He finished the game with 71 yards and a touchdown on nine carries.

25 -- Games in which Sanders gained 150 yards or more, most in NFL history. Brown is second with 22 games.

1,458 -- The number of yards Sanders would have needed in 1999 to surpass Walter Payton and become the NFL's career rushing leader. Instead, hre retired.

2,053 -- The yardage total of Sanders' 1997 season, the third-highest single-season total in NFL history. Eric Dickerson had 2,105 yards in 1984 and Jamal Lewis had 2,066 in 2003.

2,658 -- Yards rushing during Sanders' junior year at Oklahoma State (1988), the NCAA record for most rushing yards in a season.

Column: Top memories of Sanders center on his fierce competitiveness

ALLEN PARK -- Except for a preseason game in London in 1993, I attended every professional football game Barry Sanders played in -- and the questions are always the same: What was his greatest run? What is your favorite memory?

Those are impossible questions to answer, of course, because as soon as you think of one fantastic run (that twisting hurdle effort against the Bears), another jaw-dropping run (corkscrewing New England safety Harlon Barnett into the ground) immediately comes to mind. And then there's the playoff-game touchdown run against Dallas, the spinning, whirling dervish two-yard loss against the Bills, and the third-and-18 draw for a touchdown in Seattle in which Sanders eluded all 11 Seahawks -- sometimes twice.

It can go on and on.

But the one thing I'll remember about Sanders the most -- and perhaps his least talked-about trait -- was his fierce competitiveness.

With Sanders, everything was about Sunday afternoons. It was pure man vs. man competition. Who's the better man? What have you got?

That's why some of my favorite memories of Sanders aren't even when he was carrying the ball. It was when he turned into a defender after an interception or fumble. He was one of the Lions' fiercest tacklers and he would hit the runner with everything he had and with great vengeance. There were several times when Sanders would grab a cornerback by the top of his jersey and swing him around so violently that the defender would be windmilled about seven yards out of bounds.

Sanders played with an attitude, but you didn't always see it as easily as you do with players like Brett Favre or Ray Lewis. Sanders burned from within and his humiliation (of opponents) came in the form of players grasping at air and stumbling foolishly to the ground while pursuing him. Don't think for a moment that Sanders didn't relish every minute of that.

Sanders wanted to be the best player on the football field -- it was his driving motivation and, I believe, one of the biggest reasons he retired early. Sanders wasn't going to be anybody's 800-yards-a-season running back. He was either going to be one of the greatest in the game or he wasn't going to be anything at all.

The interesting thing is that none of that related to records or statistics. Sanders really didn't care about rushing titles, whether they were for his rookie year or for the NFL's career list. He only cared about the competition on Sunday and knowing -- proving -- to his teammates and peers that he was the best player on the field.

When I think about Sanders' greatest games, three immediately come to mind because they're all linked by a common factor.

They say running backs don't "play" against each other, they play against the defense. That's a crock.

Look at three of Sanders' most compelling games and they came against three of the best running backs at the time.

The first was on Dec. 10, 1990, a Monday game against Bo Jackson and the Oakland Raiders. Jackson was regarded as one of the NFL's most explosive players and he had a big game, gaining 129 yards and scoring a touchdown.

Sanders, though, was even better. He rushed for 176 yards -- averaging seven yards a carry by twisting and spinning away from tacklers -- and scored a pair of touchdowns.

Sanders, of course, couldn't do it all and Oakland won 38-31 on the strength of three Jay Schroeder touchdown passes, but a nationwide audience saw who was truly the most electric running back.

After the game, Jackson paid tribute to Sanders: "When I grow up, I want to be just like Barry."

The second game came on Sept. 19, 1994 -- another Monday night game -- against the Dallas Cowboys, who had already won two Super Bowls and would win another the following year. The raging debate about the game was "Who is the better runner? Sanders or Emmitt Smith?"

The national media appeared to cast their votes for Smith because of the Super Bowls and his hard running style. Unlike the flashy Sanders, who the media felt was more style than substance, Smith was the team's workhorse and could get the truly hard inside yards.

In that game, which the Lions won 20-17 in overtime, Smith rushed for 143 yards, but Sanders was incredible. Carrying the ball a workhorse-like 40 times, Sanders rushed for 194 yards and was nearly impossible to tackle, dragging defenders on most every carry. Sanders was sending his message: You think I can't run hard? You think I can't get the hard inside yards? Watch this.

The third game was played on Oct. 12, 1997 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In the first two games of that season, Sanders had been held to a total of 53 rushing yards and, because it was his ninth year in the league, there were whispers that he was slowing down.

In that second game, the Lions were beaten by the Bucs 24-17 in the Silverdome and a talented rookie named Warrick Dunn had dazzled Detroit's defense with 116 rushing yards -- in the first half.

More whispers. Has the aging Sanders passed the torch to Dunn?

Well, in that October game in Tampa, Sanders rushed for two touchdowns of 80 yards or more (80 and 82), a feat that had never been done before (or since) in the NFL. In the end, he had 215 yards and the Lions had an overwhelming 27-9 victory.

Sanders rushed for 2,053 yards that season -- getting 2,000 of them in the last 14 games.

After the second Tampa Bay game, I caught Sanders as he was leaving the locker room. I asked him about his performance and he gave me a devilish grin and said something that tells you everything you ever needed to know about his competitive fires:

"I do a pretty good Warrick Dunn impersonation, don't I?"

To former teammates, Sanders was the best running back ever

ALLEN PARK -- The debate about the greatest NFL running back of all time is a subjective one -- until you ask former Detroit Lions linebacker Chris Spielman.

"Barry Sanders is the greatest running back who ever lived, there's no question about it. He's in a different world," Spielman said. "Just ask the guys who played against him."

Sanders will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame today during ceremonies in Canton, Ohio. Sanders is the 16th former Lions player to be inducted and is the first since tackle Lou Creekmur (1950-59), who was nominated by the senior committee and then honored in 1996. The most recent Lions player to be inducted was cornerback Lem Barney (1967-77) who entered the Hall in 1992.

Other players joining Sanders in today's ceremonies are Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway, Minnesota Vikings defensive end Carl Eller and Philadelphia Eagles tackle Bob Brown.

Both Sanders and Elway made the Hall on the first ballot, which is taken five years after a player retires. While there is an argument about whether Elway is the greatest quarterback of all time, Spielman insists that Sanders is without peer.

"I remember the final game of the 1991 season -- it was Barry's second year -- and there was a lot of talk about who the best running back was," Spielman said. "We were playing the Buffalo Bills and I was walking off the field at halftime with a bunch of their players, including guys like (linebackers) Cornelius Bennett and Shane Conlan and they were saying, 'Man, I have never -- ever -- seen anything like that in my life.

"The guys who played against Barry knew who the best running back was."

That would include Spielman who, as a member of the Bills, played against Sanders and the Lions in 1997.

"I was able to get him a couple of times because he didn't see me coming," Spielman said. "There were a couple of times, though, when he did see me and he put me on his highlight film. I tackled nothing but air."

Spielman tried to follow the same advice he had given his teammates prior to that game: "Don't break down, just take your best shot at him. Every rule that's in the book of tackling -- how to fundamentally break down and all of that -- when it came to Barry, you threw it out. I told them to take a shot and keep chasing because he might be coming back."

Spielman believes Sanders is the greatest running back because of several amazing attributes: vision, conditioning, speed, quickness and power. Spielman believes Sanders doesn't get enough credit for that last one.

"In practice one day, I hit him by accident," Spielman said. "He had the most powerful legs and I made two mistakes. One, you don't hit Barry in practice and, two, I hit him around his legs and I pulled off a little and didn't wrap up. His legs were so strong he almost tore my arms off. He was rock solid."

Another former Lions player who agrees -- partly -- with Spielman is quarterback Scott Mitchell.

"I had a front-row seat to some amazing runs. I saw some things I'd never seen before," Mitchell said. "The most amazing thing is that he made really good players look really, really bad. He made them look silly. Think about it, guys like Rod Woodson, Cornelius Bennett, John Lynch . . . the list goes on."

Mitchell, though, said that Sanders could have been even greater.

"He really wasn't interested in running (pass) routes. He could do it and he had good hands, but he just didn't seem to like it," Mitchell said. "I've seen more complete backs, but as a pure runner, nobody is even close to him."

Spielman concurs.

"Nobody could cover him," Spielman said. "If he was half-as-good at route-running as he was at running the ball, he would've been the best receiving back of all-time, too."

It's not that Sanders couldn't be stopped, it just meant that teams had to go to extraordinary lengths to do it.

"I never got any value out of watching film (of opponents) because they never played the same defense against us," Mitchell said. "The best I ever saw was (Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator) Fritz Shurmur because, in the playoff game (in 1994), he played everyone a gap wider and told them not to overpursue. They kept Barry inside."

By fanning out their defense and waiting for Sanders to come to them, instead of chasing him, the Packers held Sanders to minus-one yard rushing on 13 carries. The Packers won that game because sore-arm Detroit quarterback Dave Krieg couldn't capitalize.

Green Bay's strategy worked that time but, when it was tried by a few teams a year later, Mitchell and all the Lions receivers had career seasons because the passing game tore apart opponents using that strategy.

Defensive coordinators had a no-win proposition. Either focus all your efforts and resources to stop Sanders -- and be at the mercy of the Lions quarterback -- or be at the mercy of Sanders.

It wasn't a tough choice.

One of the players who benefited most was Erik Kramer, the last Lions quarterback to win a playoff game. It was 1991 and then-Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dave Wannstedt committed everyone to stopping the running game. It worked, as Sanders was held to just 22 rushing yards in the first three quarters.

Kramer, meanwhile, torched the Cowboys' undermanned secondary for 337 passing yards and three touchdowns in the 38-6 win -- the only Lions playoff victory in the last 47 years. Ironically, even against a stacked defense, Sanders bolted for a 47-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to cap the blowout.

"With Barry, you always knew you were going to get a lot of vanilla looks out of the secondary," Kramer said. "Dallas was completely set up to stop Barry. They thought 'We'll stop the Hall-of-Fame guy and let somebody else beat us.' They never changed their defense."

Kramer made the Cowboys pay for that strategy, but he fully understands why the Dallas coaches were so adamant about not changing.

"What made Barry so special was that he could make (Chicago Bears middle linebacker and Hall of Famer) Mike Singletary miss -- if they were both standing in a phone booth," Kramer said. "I'm not kidding. I remember a game against the Bears and there was a very small hole between guard and center and it was just Singletary and Barry. Not only did Singletary not tackle him, he never touched him. Barry went on for a 10-yard run or something and Singletary was on knees, tackling air.

"Barry was certainly the best runner I've ever seen."

Sanders pushed into the spotlight at Hall of Fame

CANTON, Ohio (AP) — Barry Sanders did everything he could to avoid the spotlight during 10 spectacular seasons with the Detroit Lions.

Five years after his stunning retirement, Sanders was not able to avoid it Sunday afternoon when he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

And the ex-running back didn't mind it.

Sanders spoke for nearly 20 minutes — longer than any of the other inductees: John Elway, Carl Eller and Bob Brown — and seemed to laugh and smile more than he did throughout his reclusive career.

"I was nervous, but I was really excited," Sanders said about 30 minutes after the ceremony. "I was having a good time."

When was the last time he talked that long?

"Maybe in high school, on the phone with my girlfriend," he joked.

Hours earlier, Sanders said he always chose to let his actions speak for him. That might have been wise because words couldn't always describe moves not seen before, or since.

Sanders juked his way to 15,269 yards rushing, set nine NFL records and quietly walked away from the game one average season away from Walter Payton's rushing record.

"I understood the significance of it," Sanders said.

Soon after his 31st birthday and just before training camp in 1999, Sanders announced his decision to retire through a written statement released by his hometown newspaper, The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle, then traveled to London.

Four-plus years later, Sanders acknowledged the way he retired was "a little clumsy," and shot down many rumors, including the one that the move was a ploy to be traded.

Sanders may have won over any of his still-bitter fans early in his speech on Sunday.

"You don't find better football fans and people that want a winner than in the City of Detroit," Sanders said. "I appreciate you."

He also appreciates his father, William Sanders, despite what he said as his presenter.

"I want to introduce you to the third-best running back that ever lived," said William Sanders, who ranks himself No. 2 after Jim Brown.

Sanders, 67, last played football at Wichita (Kansas) North High School in 1955.

His son made it just a little bit further.

After winning the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma State, Detroit drafted Sanders with the third pick overall in 1989.

The 10-time Pro Bowler and 10-time All-Pro was the first to run for 1,000 yards in each of his 10 seasons, and the first to run for 1,500 yards five times.

"You never knew if he was going to make your jaw drop with a 2-yard loss, or an 80-yard gain," Elway said. "Even though we played in the same league, I was one of his fans."

He now trails Payton and Emmitt Smith in the record books, but Smith has said Sanders could've run for about 20,000 yards.

Sanders, 36, is the third-youngest player to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, two years older than Gale Sayers and one year older than Jim Brown. With a boyish face and a physique similar to the 5-foot-8, 203-pound frame he played with, Sanders looks like he could still play.

As great as Sanders was, he was never close to playing for a championship. He led the Lions to the playoffs five times and to one win over Dallas in 1991, their only postseason victory since winning the 1957 NFL title.

"I do know I missed out on playing in a Super Bowl," Sanders said. "I'll always regret that, but I do feel like I had a fulfilling career."

Sanders was the 13th Lion inducted into the Hall of Fame and assuming Charlie Sanders is next, it might be a long wait for the franchise's 15th.

Elway and his throng of fans stole the show in Canton, but Sanders had small and boisterous pockets of well-wishers, including Mexico City's German Basuerto, 29.

"I came here because Barry Sanders is No. 1," Basuerto said after taking a picture with Sanders and shaking his hand. "John Elway had a lot of fans here, but I don't know how many he had come here all the way from Mexico."