| | | | | | | | Wednesday, October 3, 2001
Classic MNF: Barry's last hurrah
By Will Weiss
ABC Sports Online
This Monday’s matchup between the St. Louis Rams and the Detroit Lions (ABC, 9 p.m. ET) marks the Lions’ first appearance on Monday Night Football since 1998. In his 10 NFL seasons, Barry Sanders appeared on MNF nine times, rushing for at least 100 yards on five occasions. This week’s MNF Classic looks at the last two MNF games of his illustrious career, both played in 1998.
Sept. 28 vs. Tampa Bay
|  | | Barry Sanders is the NFL's third all-time leading rusher, behind Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton. |
Prior to the Week 4 contest against the Bucs, Sanders hadn’t appeared on Monday Night since the 1996 finale, when he torched the San Francisco 49ers for 175 yards and a touchdown, albeit in a losing effort.
The Lions were winless heading into this game, and Sanders had called upon his teammates to play harder and take responsibility for winning or losing. Sanders listened to his own advice, rushing for 131 yards on 27 carries, providing the offensive spark in Detroit’s 27-6 victory.
But Sanders wasn’t the only story. The game signaled the arrival of two Lion rookies: quarterback Charlie Batch and DB Terry Fair.
Batch, in only his second career start, was solid, completing 14-of-23 passes and running for a score in the third quarter. Fair, who took over for Mel Gray returning kickoffs, broke the game open in the fourth with a 105-yard kickoff return for a TD. It wasn’t only the longest TD in team history, but also established a new MNF record for longest kickoff return, breaking Harold Hart’s 23-year old record.
Dec. 14 at San Francisco
|  | | Sanders faced the 49ers four times on MNF. |
Little did we know it then, but the 35-13 spanking at the hands of the 49ers would be Sanders’ final game on Monday Night. Barry’s performance was a sharp contrast from his MNF debut eight years earlier, when he and Bo Jackson dueled in a 38-31 shootout won by the Los Angeles Raiders. Sanders gained 176 yards on 25 carries and scored twice, while Jackson ran for 129 yards on 18 carries and one TD.
It was a night when his counterpart, Garrison Hearst, stole the spotlight, breaking through for 198 yards in the blowout.
Sanders had averaged 102 yards per game heading into the matchup, but was a non-factor, rushing for only 28 yards on 14 carries.
He would go on to gain 136 yards over his final two games and finish the season with 1,491 yards rushing and four touchdowns, capping a remarkable career in which he averaged 1,527 yards per season.
Inside the numbers
Barry Sanders’ line on Monday Night Football is impressive. Despite three turnouts of 24, 51 and 28 yards in three of his nine outings, he managed to average 108.1 yards per game on MNF.
209 carries, 973 yds, 4.65 avg, 6 TD (1 receiving TD)
Many questioned Sanders’ retirement, but his early departure from the gridiron he dominated left one fact unquestioned: He was one of the best running backs ever to play in the NFL. And a player that had such a unique flair and a running style all to his own that it’s uncertain when the league will ever have a back that’s worthy of comparison to him.
Will Weiss is the editor of ABC's Monday Night Football Web site.
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