WARNING: Any climbing or prolonged searching at the posted coordinates will guarantee a visit from Ford Field security, Detroit PD, or the Michigan State Police. There is no physical container!
Barry David Sanders was born on July 16th, 1968 in Witchita, Kansas, the seventh of eleven kids to William and Shirley Sanders. Growing up, he played both football and basketball. At Witchita North HS, Barry would play at tailback his sophomore and junior years for the Redskins (now named Redhawks) behind his brother Byron on the depth chart. Once Bryon graduated and went to Northwestern University on a football scholarship, Barry was shifted to the wingback position due to his small stature that the coach pereived as being "a liability". Before the fourth game of his senior season, the starting running back was suspended for disciplinary reasons, and Barry was shifted to starting running back where he stayed. Barry would end up rushing for 1,417 yards (10.2 yard average) and 17 touchdowns during his seven-game senior season at running back. Barry earned all-state honors his senior year and was named an honorable all-menion All-American. Much like his high school coach, many collegiate coaches were afraid of his short stature; only four offered a football scholarship to Barry, who accepted the offer from Oklahoma State.
Sanders enrolled at Oklahoma State in 1986, where he would back up Heisman candidate Thurman Thomas his freshman and sophomore years. He would be a vital member of special teams, where he led the nation in yards per kickoff return his sophomore year (31.6 yards) in addition to his contributions to the run game as the backup. Even as the backup, he caught the attention of many opposing coaches, with Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer once proclaiming to his team to not injure Thurman Thomas as to avoid Barry Sanders as a starting running back. Barry's junior year continues to be considered as one of the greatest individual seasons in college football history. His 3,248 total all-purpose yards set a single-season record (since broken), along with contributing 37 touchdowns on the ground and two touchdowns on special teams. Sanders was awarded the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, the Walter Camp Award, and was named the Big Eight Offensive Player of the Year and an unanimous All-American.
Barry was drafted by the Detroit Lions with the third pick in the 1989 NFL Draft. The Lions were considering drafting a different Sanders - Deion Sanders - but head coach Wayne Fontes convinced them to select Barry instead. Fontes requested that Barry wear #20 in honor of Billy Sims, former Lions running back who was considered one of the league's best in the early 1980s. In his first press conference, Barry said that he wanted to help restore the franchise's reputation in the NFL and to "help restore the roar in the dome."
True to his word, Barry restored the road in the Pontiac Silverdome. His "electrifying" running style, aong with his elusiveness and ability to reverse direction seemingy at will, made Lions must-watch football. Many times throughout his career, the 80,000+ in attendance at the Silverdome would chant BAR-RY! BAR-RY! BAR-RY! after his electrifying runs; this chant is still heard today when Barry makes public apperances throughout Michigan. Through his ten seasons, the Lions had five winning seasons (the best being 12-4 in 1991), made the playoffs five times (with a 1-5 record in the playoffs), and Barry won numerous awards (1997 NFL MVP, 10x Pro Bowler, 2x NFL Offensive Player of the Year, 4x NFL rushing champion, and 6x First-Team All-Pro, among many others). His 1997 season was his best, where he ran for over 2,000 yards (at the time, he was only the third player to do so; he is now one of eight). Barry continues to be the only running back in NFL history to have five 1,500+ rushing seasons - four of those were in consecutive seasons!
Barry announced his retirement on July 27th, 1999, the day before Lions training camp was set to start. It was an extremely perplexing decision by Barry, as he was healthy at time of retirement, only 1,457 career rushing yards short of the all-time record by Walter Payton, and was two years into a six-year contract. His retirement voided $20.9 million in collective salary and bonuses alongside millions of dollars in endorsements. The Lions demanded that Barry return $7.37 million of his $11 million signing bonus from when he signed the six-year contract; Barry said no, the Lions filed a grievance with the NFL, and the arbitrator ruled in favor of the Lions and Barry was required to pay back the bonus. This would cause dissonance between Barry and the Lions, which has now been patched up and Barry continues to be a frequent flyer and ambassador for the Lions. Since his retirement, Barry has come out and said that it was his frusturation with Lions management, the direction of the Lions, and the resulting lack of success that contributed to his retirement.
LOGGING REQUIREMENTS
Before attempting this virtual cache, it is highly recommended to perform some research to see if any Lions or Tigers games are scheduled; the virtual cache is accessible 24/7, but visiting on a gameday for either team will result in localized road closures and increased foot traffic. There is only paid parking nearby, the closest (legal) street parking will be on the north side of I-75 (Fisher Freeway). As always, please be aware of your surroundings at all times.
At the posted coordinates is the bronze Barry Sanders statue erected by the Detroit Lions organization. There are two different options to log a 'found it' on this virtual:
Option A: Take a photograph with the Barry Sanders statue. In this photograph must be either (A) a substantially recognizable, unobscured/unobstructed portion of a face of the geocacher (not photoshopped, the full face is highly recommended) or (B) a sign* with the geocacher's name with the Barry Sanders statue. This photograph must be posted as a part of your 'found it' log on this cache.
Option B: Look in the additional waypoints below for coordinates for a nearby manhole cover. Take a look and see (a) what company the manhole cover is for (large letters forming outside circle), (b) the year the manhole cover was made (center of manhole cover), and (c) the company that made the manhole cover (small text on inner circle beneath year). Message me these answers via the messaging option on the Geocaching website.
Found it logs that do not meet the requirements of either option will be deleted.
*The definition of a 'sign' will be very broadly interpreted, but at a minimum, it should be the geocacher's name on something - a piece of paper, a trackable event cache name tag, and so on. Bonus points if it is on a Lions jersey!
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.