Football is back with Barry Sanders

the weekend. I can't wait to smell the bronze cooking in the parking lot, the sticky spilled beer in the concourse. There's just something so great about being at an NFL stadium. I really wish my co host could go with me. Janice Office, You're honest. How was your week going and how you excited the football's back. I'm very excited the

football's back. And yeah, all of those nostalgic smells, the hot dogs cooking, the beers, the courts underneath the stadium is being full with people getting arrested for being drunk. And I've just been in one of those holding cells. No, I've never been in one of those holding cells, Thank god, I have not been, but I've seen a lot of people go into them. You know, people like to drink at a certain sport if there is the legal system is present in the sport that you play. So, but

I just got a new seventy TV from my basement. Wow, I want to hang it out and I want to turn it into like just a football mecca. So I'm excited for that. I'm very excited. But you know, because of the pandemic, it's like my couch isn't coming till so so you're standing and watching. Yeah, let me ask you a question. Did you break into a pottery barn to it to do this episode? Because that background looks very manicured or a funeral home kind of looks like

that as well. I will confirm we are all well and alive. You're in the doctor household. These were not sent over by concerned friends and fans. Um No. I just I like flowers everywhere, and when I have a simple shot, why not you know, cram it with flowers. Yeah, we're not endorsed by one flowers. That is just should be though, that would be great. I would send myself flowers a lot. Yeah. Yeah, my wife does that every week. She gets new flowers and throws over here. Yeah, so

she's buying herself flowers. Well, one thing you were busy doing this week helped our show a lot. We appreciate that you went on the Joe Rogan Show. Tell me about that. Yeah, I went on the Joe Rogan Show, thank god, not to talk about vaccines. Thanky didn't bring that up. We just had fun. You know, he's a comedian and he's a good friend now and I plugged our show, got a nice plug. So hopefully we'll get a lot of m m A fans, a lot of guys were you know, drinking energy drinks and like a

good mm A shirt, like a Brazilian. We're gonna have a lot of fans wearing Brazilian jiu jitsu shirts. So maybe we'll be sponsored by Monster Energy or something. You know. I gotta stop you there though, because you tried to plug our show, and our loyal listeners will remember my dad also tried to plug our show on a T and T n P A game and fudged it a bit. You fudged it a bit here too. Let's just let's roll yeah, I have this new sports podcast, um and

uh we undefeated. I'm sorry it's not called defeat. Sorry, I had a little it's called Unleashed. I'm sorry. It's called Unleash for us for gu Bet MGM with me and Olivia Harlan Decker. Yeah, so I'm glad you tried to save it. There. I'm glad you plugged carry strung and you know, it's very strong. Last week you were struggling with some some NBA player names. But it kind of keeps me on my toes. I like that. Yeah, my nickname is Yanni Biden's so I will miss now stuff.

But I nailed your name. I nailed your name. And that's the harder name because I'm one of those pretentious, weird people with three names because I can't decide what one to go with, so I just kept all three, and because I don't want to do the paperwork. The paperwork is a pain. So you nailed it. Yeah, I nailed. Yeah, you got the three names. It almost looks like you're Whenever I see the three names, it should come with like a book deal. You know, it always sounds like

a writer's name. Whenever there's three just sounds official or a law firm. I sound like a law firm. Law firm, yeah, Harlan du do you suffer from pelvic mesh imps? All right, well, let's get to some football. We're glad to have everyone with us because this week preseason starts. As I mentioned on Thursday, Um, but we're gonna have a really good interview coming up later in the show. It's NFL great Barry Sanders, Jannese, you gave it a listen. What was

your impression of Barry? Well, my impression of Berry. First of all, like you said, he is a living legend, and he's he's typically like a closed guy, doesn't talk my totally celebrate much. And in the interview he said that's part the error he grew up in part his style. He kind of led by example. But you really opened him up. I gotta say it was like a very very engaging interview. So well done, partner. Well, thank you, partner.

I'm excited for everyone to listen to that one. It was it was very cool to sit down with them. And then later in the show, we wrap up as always with Peter Andrew for our Lions luck. He's gonna tell us about some big bets around the NFL. We kind of picked the corner last week with tent lines that, but there are some more and you might want to think about it. You know that that's how you make the big money. You gotta bet big money, and you gotta be a little outrageous sometimes. So Peter is gonna

hold our hands through that one. I'm still betting with my heart and that is not the way to do it. So I need him because I just I I bet for the Knicks Giants, and I've been doing that for years because I'm a Greek and I have big heart, and that's that hasn't been paying off for me. I don't know, follow your heart too, but make sure your wallet goes along. Hey, you're gonna fill me on some m m A storylines. That is a whole world I've never covered as a sports reporter. I don't dabble in

much as a viewer. But catch me up because I know there was a big fight this week. Frenchman Cyril Ghani. Am I saying that? Right? Yeah? I mean, you know, we're Americans, so we get a pass, right. I call him gone Ghani. Whatever. It's like, they get pissed about that, but we're American, you know. It's like they say Duval. We see you know, they we say Duval. They correct us, were like, look, we save you, we save you in World War two. How about you let me misspronounce a

few names. Okay, how about you let me misspronounce a few names, Frenchie, It's okay. So yeah, he's uh yeah, he is a heavyweight and he is a problem. I mean he is you know, the heavyweight is always the baddest guy on the planet because he can he can obviously beat up all the other weight classes. And now m m A, which is very exciting, has like an exciting heavyweight division with two big stars who used to train together in France. So it's a nice storyline that

they're gonna now fight. Let's call him Ghani Gunny and Francis and Ghanu are gonna fight and their former training partners friends and it's a much anticipated fight in Ganya has only had like ten professional m m A fights, but he's an absolute phenom. He destroyed Derrick Lewis, who I'm a big fan of and I was rooting for, but I mean, it was total destruction. It was an exciting night of fights. And jose Aldo look great. He moved down to one thirty five and he looks as

sharp as ever. And he's a guy who's taking a lot of punishment and higher weight classes, and he's been around for a while. He's kind of a living legend himself. But he looks like he looks as fresh as new, like he could clean up at one thirty five. So M m A is exciting, and I'm gonna get you into it because you don't look like a person who kind of grew up watching because I like watching women fight too, but I also like watching women try to

destroy each other with fake compliments as well. Like I told you, so, those are my two favorite sports. Is it the hydra angels that make me look like I'm not really into m m A or what is it? I think it's the you were missed teen Kansas right, you can seOne check their Wikipedia. I am a Wikipedia slut. I'm so high if you looked in a mind yeah, I mean yeah, I mean you were missing you, you were doing you. You play golf. I mean you know, you just don't seem that the type that would tune

in to watch people smatch each other. Faces sponsored by an energy drink just for the sake of proving you wrong. Now, I'm gonna do a deep dive. Deep dive and this is what I do for a living, So I'm gonna I'm gonna find like backstories you've never even heard of. Yeah, doing deep dive like my my good friend Joe Rogan hasn't done about vaccinats. Oh that is too funny. Well that was again, thank you for the plug. That was pretty cool. He's he's a legend in this space. He

is beyond successful. So that was That's a that's a pretty cool connection there. Honest. Did you watch any of the Hall of Fame induction? I watched Peyton mannings and I got kills. I got He's so he's such a good speaker, he's so charismatic, he's funny. I loved it. I got chills at the end when he said God bless you and God bless football. Yeah, it was very was like, oh my god, can I have that bumper

sticker tattooed? Like where can we put that thing? Because he also said it at his retirement so that was pretty cool. Um. Also, Charles Woodson, I'm a huge Packer fan. Obviously I thought his speech was killer, shouting at his mom. He even saying boys to men, which was really cool. And then what he said, he has two boys, and he said, you know his wife was there. He said, I hope you will love your mom the way I love mine. I mean, here, I am just holding the remote,

tearing up and like I need a son. I need to love me that much. Yeah, it's um. They always choke up when they talk about their parents, and Peyton choked up too. But let me ask you, did he not mention Eli? You know, I don't think he did. He choked up speaking about his dad, but he didn't mention his brother. He did. I don't think he mentioned Eli. The whole speak each and I didn't even think about that until you brought it up. So that was shady.

That was shady. That was a little shady. I also noticed at the beginning he got a huge ovation, obviously, and the camera was cutting to Tom Brady a lot. They're good friends. But I've read in that expression tom Brady might have got a little competitive. He might have thought that ovation was a little too much, because I saw in his face he had a little like fake smile, and you know, maybe he was starting a little shade, maybe you start a little shade of Peyton, or maybe

your full of conspiracy theories. Today, I'm into the gossip. I don't care about the numbers, and I want to know who's fighting, was dating, what's going on behind seats. Well, speaking of Hall of Fame Hall of Famers, let's get to our Barry Sanders interview because it's pretty long, but you're gonna want to make sure you were listening to it in the car, walking your dog, whatever, because there's

so much info. Barry Sanders is a Heisman winner, NFL Rookie of the Year, Pro bowler every year of his NFL career, which is incredible. Hall of Famer, like I mentioned in so much more, He's thought by some to be one of the best players to never play in a Super Bowl, which is a title no one once. He never suffered a major injury, and his retirement seemed a bit premature after just ten seasons. We get into all of that, but I've got to say I've met a lot of athletes past and present, and he is

as respectable and down to earth as any honest. He spent so much time talking with our whole production team and crew which was a big crew. He stayed later than he had to contractually. He took pictures with everyone, signed stuff. He was incredible, which made this conversation that much more interesting to me. Without further ado, let's bring in my fellow cans in Barry Sanders, Welcome to Ford Field.

I'm Olivia Harland Decker. I am joined by Hall of Famer detroit lyon great Barry Sanders with Bet MGM. We are so excited to talk Barry. Thanks for joining us. Great to be here. Okay, Barry Sanders, I'm going to read off your list of accolades and I could have memorized it if I wanted to Heisman, All American, Rookie of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, Pro Bowler,

All Pro, m v P, Hall of Fame. I'm curious which title meant the most at the time when you were awarded it, oh, man um, which title meant the most at the time? Probably I would probably have to say Heisman, just because so much change for me after I won the Heisman. I'm not gonna say no one knew about me, right, but it's been said that I sort of came out of nowhere. Was that you? Well?

I mean I was. I was probably almost as surprised as a lot of people when I won, you know, just because uh as my first year starting, you know, and I just played special teams and done really well before that, you know, and I remember the big Heisman campaigns of Troy Aikman and Rodney Pete before that season. Uh, you know, I just never thought. I just never thought a million years and it would be me, you know,

So it just kind of happened. But yeah, but but to asker your question, yeah, I would probably have to say just because it was such a big change in my life and when that happened, that junior season of yours is regarded as one of the best individual performances in college football history. Now in retrospect, is that give you chills? What do you think when you hear that. It's it's really amazing, man, It's phenomenal when I hear it, just because you know, I grew up watching um so

many great players play the game. I remember all those great USC running backs that I watched as a kid, you know, Anthony Davis and Charles White and of course Marcus Allen, and you know guys like Billy Seams or Tony Dorris Set and even just other Heisman Trophy winners. But yeah, and I watched so much college football UM as a kid, and just the fact that that my numbers stack up against all those great players that I watched, it's a part of it doesn't seem very real. Honestly.

It seems like it's some other guy. But but no, and you know, I think back, it was such a phenomenal year. And it was such a phenomenal situation I was in, you know, because I had um, you know, I was fortunate enough to have five fifth year senior offensive lineman at a fifth year senior fullback court you know, Coach Gundy, you know, he was a quarterback, you know, and so there was another first round why receiver, Hartley Dikes, And so it was such a great situation for me.

And I'm not saying I wouldn't have done well anywhere, but but it just seemed like the perfect situation. UM. And those guys love blocking and and um, you know, and they love seeing me be successful. So I'm fortunate in that sense, perfect situation. But like you said, I have a feeling you would have found your gaps anywhere you anywhere you played when you look back at that season you mentioned Coach Gundy. Is that group still tight? Do you have like a cowboy text throat or something?

We do still talk every now and then. You know, we had a reunion, thirty year reunion. Uh, just in the last year or so. So it was great, great seeing all those guys come back to Stillwater and and men having a chance to really highlight highlight that season. Heisman. That's a pretty unique fraternity as well. What's it like having that name attached to yours? Oh, it's amazing. It's amazing because it's such an iconic name and there's so many great players that played the college game and only

only just to select few when the Heisman. And I remember being a kid watching NFL. The first guy I remember as a as a really good Heisman player, Heisman Trophy winner in the pros was Roger stall Back. And I just remember his his Heisman trophy picture, you know, and seeing how dominant he was with the Cowboys, and uh, the fact that I'm in in a group with guys like him in some ways had an impact on the game the way he did. I mean, it's just, you know,

it's really remarkable to think about it. For me, any early Heisman favorites this season? Are you? Are you? I don't know if I can say favorites, right, I don't know say favorites. And I know you're not going to say someone who played at ALCOHOL And I know there's a kid, obviously there's a kid another another quarterback at the University of Oklahoma who who was a favorite UM? And obviously I mean, but hey, look, you know I wouldn't want to lean one one one direction or another UM.

And hey, may the best man win. Every position has its presence in the locker room, team meetings, on the bus, you know. And you think of quarterback being the face of the team, the leader, and then when you come in as running back, you're the face of the team that season. Especially what type of presence does a star running back need to have among his teammates. Whenever you talk about attach star, I think people are watching what

you do, watching what you say. But I think mostly they're watching, you know, how you carry yourself on the things that you do. I wasn't a very vocal leader. If you're talking about, you know, my Husman Trophy year, and I think people were wanting, you know, we're curiously Okay, what kind of player here is going to be as a full time starter. But I think you know, you have to be consistent. I know, in my case, I

believe you have to be a hard worker. You have to be willing to do anything else that anyone else's is doing and realize that you're you're invested as much in that group as anyone else, and be a great team player, you know, and and so things like that. Um so, because it is a great team game. And like I mentioned before, all the guys that that, um you know, I felt like we're doing a lot of the heavy lifting up front, you know, and and that

kind of thing. So you know, you lead by example, and they want someone who's consistent, who you know is gonna show up on Saturday, you know, and make plays. It's funny I could interview a current college star and ask them, you know, how they're having a great season. They would still tell me the guys that from the guy's blocking here, we are all these years later and

you're still pointing out your online that's pretty incredible. No, absolutely, you know, if you met these guys, you would understand what I'm saying. But if you think back to my Heisman Trophy a year because in today's football, really this couldn't really happen to have five fifth your senior office lineman, you know. I mean, you know, most of the most most of you guys now are gone. If they're really really good, they're going by, you know, their junior year

or whatever. You know. So to have those guys that had played that much college football together, right, definitely absolutely definitely benefited me. And they think about it too. Is the thing about it too, was I was a true junior, right, so they so so they were a couple of years older than me, right and so late. So it's funny because they kind of knew or felt like we had a chance to win the Hysman earlier than I did. They when they would say stuff like that, I was like,

these guys gonna be crazy, man, you know. And then it sort of called on. After we played that, which I think it was maybe like the fourth game of the season, we go to Colorado because we had we hadn't played, um any really top teams until then. Um and then we go to Colorado and we knew it

I was gonna be a tough game for us. And then after the game, I remember people started saying, you know, fans and things like that started sort of a Hysan Trophy chant, which I just thought, Okay, these are like, you know, they're really going overboard with this win against Colorado. But but it's sort of caught on after that. If we played you know, some tougher teams got more into the schedule, you know, and then and then once we played Nebraska, then OU and I had a good game.

Then I thought, okay, maybe maybe it's possible. Yeah, maybe it's possible. That season you had two thousand fifty rushing yards forty two touchdowns in twelve games. That's incredible. And you said you were a guy who came out of nowhere special teams backup running back. Did your mental change much after that? Then you go to the draft? I mean it changed gradually, you know, it changed gradually. I think, you know, the same way I approached everything in college.

You know, I got there in we had a ton of running backs, and I don't I don't know where I was on a depth chart going in, but I was. You know, people say I backed up Thurman Thomas, and I always think, well, yeah, I backed up Thurman and about five other guys. You know, it wasn't just Thurman Thomas um. And then I just kind of gradually worked my way. Uh. I was very hungry, you know. And and and so my freshman year I ended up playing a lot more than I thought I would because some

of the older guys we're injured. There was a few guys that had gotten call up into Prop eight thing, and so I you know, so I played. You know, I don't know how many carries I had, um I had for the season with three yards or something like that. And you know, and so they weren't expecting me to come in and play running back as a fresh as a freshman back then. And then my sophomore year pretty

much took over the kick return duties. You know, I was was All American kick returner and I love you know, and and at that point, I was pretty much firmly set as Dermond's back up as a sophomore, which I loved, right my you know, my second year and you know, I'm backing up this guy who I know was going to the league. Um, you know, you know, something like that.

But but I just knew that yeah, this is yeah, I mean, this is this I'm living a dream man, I'm playing college football, you know, in a in a great conference. I had grown up watching the Big Eight Conference. Um, you know, and so and so I couldn't ask for much more. But it was it was gradual, you know. And so when you talk about he's been the draft, I had to um sort of be brought along, I think.

And I was fortunate that my my dad, you know, it just kind of pulled me aside and it was like, son, you gotta you gotta go, you know, you gotta go. You were going to come back for your senior. Absolutely absolutely, I was gonna come back to my senior and my and my dad said in so many words, you know, and they weren't the nicest of words. When he's like, no, son, son, um you got you gotta go. You're crazy. You're crazy if you stay in school. It's what he said. And

so it took me a while to come around. Okay, Well I guess I guess this is sort of a new thing because no one really had um. There have been players back then, juniors that had gone to the USFL. Right, so I remember Herschel went to the USFIL Remember Mike Rosier had gone to the USFL. I don't know. I think Doug Flutie may had gone to Canada or something like that, you know. Um, but but as juniors, yeah, you know, so, yeah, I was expecting to go back

to school. Even when we played our bowl game, Um, I was still expecting that. I remember getting questions from the media, um about what I was gonna do. And at that point, I was still thinking coming back to school, you know. And so but like I said, you know, Dad pulled me aside. We had a few hard hearts and yeah, and he said, no, son, you gotta be grazy. You gotta be out of your mind if you go back um to school. And so eventually that that spring, you know, I guess, warmed up to the idea of

going to the NFL. I remember coach Fons, I don't know all the other coaches that they came to Stillwater, but did like a pro day. But we you know, we did them the vertical and the forty and whatever else they had us do. And then after that, Coach Fonts, who was obviously the Lions coach at the time, he just pulled me aside. It's like, son, if you if you're coming out, then we're going to draft you, we're gonna draft you. You know, they had number three spot.

But even then I knew that, Okay, well anything, anything could happen. You know, they could promise you anything. You know, it happens absolutely and end happened the year before with Thurman. You know, we thought was gonna be a first round and he end up he end up slipping into the second round, you know. And so so anyway, but coach once he told me that, um, and so that was another thing. I think that that sort of warmed me up to the idea of of of leading school. So

that's that's kind of how that part happened. So they held their under the bargain. You're selected third overall, your rookie of the year. I mean, talk about the highest of highs two years in a row. How did your confidence, because you seem to operate with like a quiet confidence, which I really like about you. You have this energy. Did that change as you got up to this big stage. I would say no, it didn't, because I think I think there's always been a part of me that was

at high school kid that didn't get heavily recruited. We didn't get heavily recruited. Um. And so I was still really trying to convince myself. UM, and I knew I had to. But you know, the thing I understood is that I knew I had to just go to work every day, you know, just continue to to lift and run and and um try to try to physically improve be ready for the NFL for me, you know, just

coming here. I don't. I don't. I wouldn't say I had great confidence, but I was excited to see what kind of player I would be great confidence because anything could happen in the NFL. Anything could happen, you know, and a lot of great players come and play in NFL. And they were great college players, and it just doesn't translate, you know, to to the NFL. And so I had no idea, but I was. I was excited to get here to see what I would be able to do, you know. And and so I knew that the team

hadn't won much. Um. The one of the things that I loved about the team was that one of my try to at idols, Billy Sims, that played here, and Coach Fond said, well, you know, we we know you were twenty one in college. People, I want to put you in Billy's number number twenty. You know, so I was like, hey, whatever you say, coach, um, you know so so Um, but I was excited for the opportunity, and that that's really all I can say. I didn't I didn't know what kind of NFL player I would make,

you know. I knew that I loved being being a running back. I tried to do everything I could to be ready. Um, I held out. And another thing I guess that that um, they kind of threw a wrenching things was that I didn't sign until the week of the first game. I missed all the training camp, I mean every better training camp, you know, so I didn't know any plays. Uh. I was coming into a new system, you know, like grown up playing basically I back tail

back with a fullback and from being a tight end. Right, and so we get here and now there's this sort of new bangled offense, the running shoot you know, and so just things like that. You know, again, it was just it was just different, you know. But but um, having signed the week of the first game, right and not having gone through training camp, and that's just another thing, you know, where I just wasn't sure. Okay, what you know, what's gonna happen, you know, when I get out there

and you didn't really know your teammates. Absolutely no, I did not. I did not. I come to one preseason, preseason game. I may have met a couple of guys whatever in passing, but that was about it, you know. So just so happened. I suited up for the first game and and that the toward the end of the game, the coach asked me that I want to go in, you know, and they showed me a few players on the sideline and the rest of history. Did they keep it pretty simple just so everything they did? No, Yeah,

for sure, Yeah they did. They did. They kept pretty simple. Um, they showed me a few steps, like I said, UM, something like that, something like that. Obviously, you know, it couldn't be too complicated. And you know, I mean the first time I touched the ball, you know, it's well documented. I ran for I don't know, seventeen yards or something like that, and it was it was such a thrill, you know, to be in the NFL playing against these guys in the Silver Dome back then for me, it

was it was the thrid of a lifetime. I think it was on your tenth carry or something. You scored your first touchdown? Does that sound right? I should know that. I'm not sure it was. It was pretty soon after later, It was pretty soon after. It was pretty soon after in that game, I scored a pretty short touchdown run and and no, hey, look man, I was um, no pun intended. I was often running. It's funny that is a part of your playing style to which we don't

see a lot these days. But you were known to just not be flashy. You know, you hand the ball to the ref. You're not really celebrating you You see that now every once in a while, but it's almost refreshing now when you see it. Why was that a part of your game? Was that maybe something from your dad or a coach? I think it came from my dad. I think it came from my dad and just my personality perspect Yeah, I think I think also, you know, it's sort of the era that I grew up in

as well. Um, I think you know, there there was some guys that celebrated, you know, I guess my formative years watching the NFL, there were some guys that celebrated, but not everyone I enjoyed, you know, the Billy white shoes Johnson dance as much as anyone, you know. But you know, when I was playing, I just and that when I was on the field playing the game, I

just didn't think about it in that way. Um and um, I think I was more business minded and and uh and kind of this is what I'm supposed to do. Like I said, my dad, you know, he was a part of that as well, you know, just telling me to to you know, make sure I play the gaming right way. And I don't. I don't have to do anything crazy, you know when I celebrate. But I think a lot of it was just you know, my my approach and personality and and um, the way that I

just you know, processed the game. It's funny, now, if you're a rookie this year, what would be different about life off the field with all the blonde spotlight that was on you candlefied standards? Oh man, I don't I don't know I could take it man, Instagram and Twitter, I don't know that I could take it. There's a

lot of a lot of distractions out there. But I think the main ingredient, or the most important thing is, you know, obviously what you do on the field, and it accentuates everything else, you know, and so I'm sure you know, most of the good players understand that certainly the world is much different now than than back then, you know, and just sports supports media. The thing about it is, I think these kids kind of grew up with it, you know, So I don't. I'm not even sure.

I'm not I'm not sure how I would react, honestly, you know, I'm I'm sure it would be much the same way as all the kids who kind of have learned how to balance it, you know, balance it effectively, UM, to be able to do all those things, but also understand that, you know, it's also important to have you know, maybe a trainer and the chef watching what you eat. UM. I think there was more savvy about and aware of

things like that. I certainly think there are some some very good things, um that are that benefit the modern athlete. When you look at what these college facilities have now, and even NFL facilities, what they have in terms of nutrition and health. What seems the most archaic things when you look back at your experience that you all dealt with,

probably at the college level more than here in Detroit. Well, the most archaic thing is probably pregame meal of just you know, any kind of meat you want, which I love meat, but that's probably not that's that's probably not the you know, just loading up on a bunch of steaks before a game is probably not the great idea, you know, or pancakes or whatever. Um you know, so um yeah, and no one had, you know, no one

had like a personal chef or something like that. You know, the stuff we used to cater for lunch, you know, from whatever fast food joint, uh donuts or whatever else. I mean, it never happened. Now, Yeah, I don't think so. I don't think so. Especially have the hyperbaric chamber and the guns. You don't have all that. I don't know if that had been invented at that point. Definitely not Yeah,

definitely not. Well, you were recently playing in a golf tournament and you're speaking to the press about the Lion season coming up and how you know, the city can have championships and other sports, but it's a football town. Why do you feel like this city rallies so much around the Lions year after year after year. How do you see that in the community. I don't know if it's because of the great championships from the fifties, um, and just that kind of football tradition. Maybe it's because

of Thanksgiving, the Thanksgiving tradition. I just know that that one of the things I did learn when I got here is that's certainly the case. And maybe it's even because of the great college teams that have played Michigan State in Michigan, you know, one championships, um or or just because of they won championships and other sports, you know, and they're they're eager to have one in the NFL, you know, but certainly, yeah, but this is certainly a

football centered town. You know. They love their Lions, have been very loyal forever, um and uh you know, and and that's that's the way it is, you know, and so they certainly are deserving of a winner. Um. There's still there's still a few people around from you know, fans from the early days you know that remember the the the early championships, you know, and some of them even joked, they know, I'm not I'm not leaving this earth until I see you know, another Lions championship. Hopefully

not long. Hopefully not very long. Absolutely, you know, that is the hope. Anyways, you were very active with this recent coaching hire. What were you searching for? What did you think you needed in this building? Well, I think just someone who people can follow, these young men can follow, and who they respect. You know, I'm not I'm not gonna say I was. You know, I don't know how much input I had. You know, I did a lot of listening, um, um, you know, but but um, but

certainly more involved than any other time. And obviously, uh, the one who was really um leading the search, Chris Fielman and I played together for many years. I know what kind of player he was. I know I passionate he was about the team, and I think that's one of the things he was looking looking forward. And I just you know, someone who leader, who was gonna be followed with someone who was really passionate about football that he understood and knew that that um, they were fanatical

about trying to come in and make a difference. And obviously, you know you want X and os and things like that, and someone who's been around a champion, which coach Campbell had, you know. So So to answer you a question, I guess those would be some of the top priorities. So you hired Dan Campbell, new GM at Holmes fresh blood can do a lot for a company, for a business, for university, certainly for a sports team. What are you

most excited about in this new regime? Well, yeah, there are there are a lot of new faces and even even going to the quarterback um. You know, I certainly didn't see that one coming, but I know that you know, Jared has played a lot of big time football. You know, you look at some of the some of the teams that he's played with, and you know, and just a few years a few years and moved from the super Bowl.

And yes, we're we're excited about about that. And uh, the GM as you as you stated in around once again you know a lot of fantastic successful football and so yes, we're hopefully hoping that you know, the new vision um excitement, you know, whatever it is that that they do, you know, and it's almost like a team, um, you want that chemistry to come together. We know that

that same thing has to happen at the top. You know, we're something you know where you can really breathe new life into a situation, and that's what we're all hoping for. I mean, you know, as fans, we're gonna we're gonna do our part. We've we've been here and so we're just hoping that it carries over onto the field. I think you're a little more than a fan. I think you're a little bit at a higher echelon than fandom.

But but at my core though, that's that's what I am, you know, fan, I'm like you know and and you know, so along with all the other fans, you know, I mean, we we with this town is hoping and praying, really expecting right championship football. So that's why I say that because at the end of the day, yeah, we were investing everything we can into turning this team around. And it comes from this just that place of Okay, look, I'm a fan and and I'm a member of the family,

and let's let's get this done. We look at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers championship run and it's very much plugged pieces in the right place and go. It seems like that's the outlier, like you really have to set up culture before that takes years to build. Do you feel like that's where the Lions are right now? Well, I think we're gonna see I think I think it can be done several ways. I mean generally speaking, yes, you

do build it over time. But I think in today's NFL, you know, if you already have the right ingredient, then I don't think. I don't think it's something you know, that takes as long. There isn't much that doesn't have to be as much of a build up, you know, to to whatever that is. Are going to be happy to hear you say that. Absolutely, No, I didn't. I think.

I think in today's NFL, absolutely you can. You you know, it shouldn't it shouldn't take And in plus, you don't you don't necessarily have five years necessarily have a five year plan. You know, you have more two or three years to get it done. You know so, and you know, and that's encouraging to see what Tampa did last year. I don't know that we necessarily have weapons in every

position that they have. You know, that's what that's what you're draft is for, and your off seasons, off seasons for bringing in guys who you think can help you. And I I don't just look at I mean the team that I look at obviously, I mean the Tampa is a great example. But obviously green Bay is a team that you know, you think about, Okay, well this that's a team you really have to beat in this

division for the most part. And then you look at that, and then you have to look at but then you look at all the great football that's been played by Minnesota, right, look at the big games that they played. Look at Chicago, you know been, I mean, you know, so this is this is a tough division. You got your work cut out for you every week, you know, and and so um you know when you're drafting and when you're bringing

in free agents and and things like that. I mean, those are those are really the teams you're thinking about that you have to see weekend. And we go a guy you drafted a couple of years ago, running back DeAndre Swift. I told you I went to Georgia, so I follow him kind of closely. I love his game. What's your involvement like with some of your star running backs here? Do you do you talk much with them? I'm not around them much, honestly, But I like what

I saw in DeAndre last year. I thought he adopted in transition all to the pro game, you know, he I thought he broke tackles well, I thought he still showed that separation and speed you know which which you know, you gotta get to this level to really see how your game, Like I said before, he's really going to translate. I don't know how many yards he ended up with last year, but for a rookie, I thought he really

earned his keep. You know, I'm looking for even bigger things this year, you know, and he looks like he could be a really solid running back. What's life like for you these days? Like update people on on your involvement here with the team, on what you do. You have so many business ventures you're involved in, but you know, we we love watching all your highlights. But you're a living legend. So what are you doing these days? I feel like I'm pretty fortunate and lucky to be in

a position I'm in. I'm sort of an ambassador for the team, for the Lions, so I come to a couple of games and I'll say hi to some fans, or say hi to sweetholders, or maybe doing some things in the community for on behalf of the team. I have my own businesses that I'm involved in. You know, I'm fortunate enough to own a couple of car dealerships in Oklahoma. You know, my agent keeps me pretty busy doing doing different things that I just just as they know,

you just want to relax. Well, you know, he can't relax all the time. You got to get out there and make some things happen. And so just just coming from shooting um hide house commercial. It's a blast, man, it's blast just being a part of it. You know. So I have four sons, you know, UM, winning college um. You know, so I feel like I feel like I have the best of both worlds um, just being able to spend time with my sons and do a lot

of really cool things like this. You know. Um, I mentioned my car dealerships um, and obviously they were today we're shooting um some stuff for MGM, bet MGM, you know, and so UM and so yeah. I mean, you know, it's really a good mix of just big things, UM, and personal things and playing a little golf every now and then. Are you glad you can enjoy yourself a bit? Thank you so much for your time with us. It's

an honor to get to talk to you. You truly are a legend, a name that I'll be telling my grandkids about that I sat down with you, so I appreciate that. It's we'll have to look at your videos, but YouTube will still be around. Yeah, they'll still have YouTube video to think. Well, thanks again for your time. Well, Barry Sanders, sure was a lot of fun. You're honest, what do you think I think it was? It was funny that he just kept giving credit to his offensive line,

and I like that you pointed that out. You're like, you're retired and you're still crediting your offensive line. Like I wonder if like he has a great day to supermarket, he's like, I just want to take my offensive line. He's arguing with his wife. He's like, you know what, I really want to give credit to my offensive line for this victory over my wife and this argument. It

was hilarious. God, it was a great interview. He's really humble, And I don't know how much of that is like you like you alluded to media trading, or if he's just he's just that humble. All the greats like that always seem to be very humble and give credit to everybody else. Oh, I don't know. I kind of have a saying that the only thing worse than an athlete is a retired athlete. So I just I feel like

that's a that's a rare breed. So when you come across one who is so humble, I find that just so appealing because you better believe living in the Detroit area being Barry Sanders is pretty sweet. It's pretty seat. Also. You know, if you've got a little money in your pocket in the Detroit area, you can buy about twenty houses five bucks. That's pretty sweet as well. So you haven't been to Detroit in a while, my friend, it has had a glow up. It's like my living room

right here at the Hydranges. It is has it really is an experience you to come back. Well, yeah, Peter, have you been backed recently because our property there, I was there recently, that's when we did this interview. It's it's gorgeous. Yeah, I was talking to someone a couple of minutes ago about Detroit. You know, it used to be you drive through and there's good bullet shots everywhere as you're as you're kind of driving through a bad area. But yeah, to be fair, they've done a really good

job over the last couple of years. Our property is obviously nice. It's a little brag on our part. But the MGM Grant Detroit is beautiful. So yeah, twenty houses back in the days, maybe only ten houses now for bear Well, that is the voice of Peter Andrew. You all know him by. Now let's get into some NFL big bets as we're looking at the first weekend of the preseason. Man, don't you know it's August when here we are going over every little storyline and getting so

excited about the first slate of games. Peter, what are some of the big bets that you're seeing in each conference? Really? That's one that you sent me. Well, there was a big bet that didn't hit last week, and I think it was you saying the over, and so couldn't go on without saying that it was a It was a good game for about fourteen minutes, and obviously the defense has prevailed or the offenses didn't prevail. Maybe that's a better way to put it. Um, But yeah, we're starting

to see a lot of big bets come in. I know I mentioned last week couple of the lines bets. We're seeing some interesting ones, peculiar. I think a couple as an example, Falcons too in the NFC at plus sixty hundred customer put a hundred k um. I think that's something we can call a donation to the bed MGM fund. But you never know, and that's why they played the game. But there are some good ones I

think that come in. You get Seahawks plus fourteen hundred, so I was over seventeen thousand when two D fifty k, which is a big amount of money right there. Seahawks, like most of the teams in the NFC West, have a pretty legitimate shot, uh to at least make it to the playoffs, and then everyone knows what Russ can

do as they get there. And and also with the Seahawks trying to lock down their left tackle and as those things will be discussed in the next coming weeks, how much will that line change and is it actually attractive to take that now? Yeah, you probably can look at it both ways, but those lines will vary. That's probably the part of their team that they're most focused on. They've had a couple of really bad years, even dating back to when they lost Max Hunger in that Jimmy

Graham trade, they haven't been the same. So as they locked them up that it could be beneficial that you locked it in early or if things don't pan out, you can actually get probably a better price in in a week or two. Times. Be interesting to see, yeah, exactly, so interesting to see. But but you know, I think sometimes players have a pretty good idea of what's going to happen, so they want to lock that that in early.

You get teams like the Patriots. Someone had them at plus eighteen hundred to win the a f C. Lots of really good teams there, so that's an if you won. But you never can count out Belichick. Who knows about mac Jones. He's looking promising already in training camp, I think camp, Yeah, sooner than later. I think he could be QB one. I know they obviously have Cam still, but but you never know, especially with Cam's injuries. Um So the Patriot way, you never know what's going to

happen with them, could be really interesting. And then the last big one we saw was Vikings to win the NFC at I'm not sure what to make of that because I think that team can really go both ways. Um So that's the one that you kind of say, let's wait and see see what first four or five weeks come out for the Vikes, and and then take it from there. An interesting thing with the Vikings is the COVID aspect, as Kirk Cousins has been very vocal about not getting the vaccine and if he's to miss

a game or two that that changes a lot. And I wanted to ask you about that in general, because it's not just Cousins, it's Lamar Jackson Ravens quarterback. He's been on the record saying he hasn't and won't get the vaccine despite having COVID twice. And I wanted to kind of take this time to tell our viewers what the protocols are this season in the NFL, because if you're vaccinated, there are very few restrictions. You're tested once every two weeks, you wear this contact tracing device, but

no masks, no social distancing. You can even leave on a bye week, you know, go see your friends and family, go on vacation and whatever it is, go out to dinner. But if you're unvaccinated, there's daily testing. You wear a mask everywhere, but when you're in the game or in practice, you have to stay in town in the bye week, which that really surprised me. You travel separately for road games,

you can't leave your hotel. You can't see your family without them also being subject to testing, and what is going to impact the gambling world as well as players missing games. If an unvaccinated player triggers an outbreak that postpones a game that can't be made up, it is a forfeit and players on both teams lose that game check. I mean, this is really serious. And the NFL can't say you have to or you cannot whatever. They cannot tell players get vaccinated, but they sure are making a

case for it. How will this affect betting in the NFL this season. Yeah, there's probably two pieces to it. So you know, hypothetically one player goes down, let's say our cousins as an example, you're really testing the depth of the team. So that's first and foremost. So a lot of these teams, especially a Baltimore Ravens or a Minnesota Vikings, have to make sure they have a pretty

capable backup quarterback. But then you get to the other part of you know, point of it where you potentially can forfeit a game and then the whole team is looking at you and they're losing game checks and it's not because of them. So it's gonna be really interesting. It will impact lines. I mean, we we saw a little bit of it last year. I think what the Broncos as an example one game where they didn't have

a quarterback to play. I don't know that we'll get to that that realm of it, but but it's gonna be really interesting and lines will dramatically move, you know, in real time as Thursday and Friday come, as you know injury reports came out, but certainly as you get closer to your game and you find out half the offensive line is out, that's a big disadvantage for a team, and that line will fluctuate by three to five points, maybe even more. How how in depth do they go

when they come up with these lines? Do they like, For example, Josh Allen gets that big contract, a hundred guaranteed, um, do you take it to consideration? His personality is lifestyle like Mahomes got half of all and it didn't he stayed motivated? But does do do they do any assessment on whether a guy gets his bag and then he kind of falls off. I guess it depends if you're playing in Miami or if you're playing in Buffalo, And that's the only thing you got to do is play. Uh,

let's play football. Yeah, it's it's interesting. I don't think they put too much into that. I think getting that bag, as you said, it is um it could warrant players to kind of fall off a little bit. But you get these big name guys like a Mahomes or like a Josh Allen, they're they're there to win. You can see how hungry they are the way they play the game.

I mean Josh Allen. You know, some could say he's a bit reckless when he's running with the ball, big boy, but I think he don't take too much stock into it. It's good that he got paid and paid more than some quarterbacks having their entire career. Um, but lines won't fluctuate too much more there. I think those guys are understanding of it's a business and they have to perform

and and NFL contracts are not guaranteed. So even though you have a subset of it that's guaranteed, soever he made two hundred plus meal or uh you know, high hundreds, only portion that's guaranteed. So if he gets cut after two years, he's not seen that whole amount A hundred fifty million is guaranteed in this contract, which is an NFL record. So now he's the second highest paid player in NFL history behind the Homes with his annual average salary.

You guys ready for this forty three million? Well, yeah, and in Buffalo that's worth about five hundred million. You could buy all of Buffalo with that amount of money. Yeah, they may rename Buffalo after Josh Allen gets Yeah, it's it's it's gonna be interesting even I mean the money that he made, and then even if you go to NBA for a second, Luca done, the money he's made. They've made more money than a lot of players have in their entire career, and a lot of big name

players too. I think Vince Carter was one that Luka has already surpassed. And he's only in the league. He's put four years. So it's crazy to see some of these numbers now and shows where the NFL and the NBA are compared to twenty years ago, fifteen years ago. Yeah, if if you're if you're an NBA player from like the eighties, you are you're not happy about what you're seeing, Well you'll see you'll see a lot of those players doing the podcast rounds right, yes, I'll you're doing the

podcast trying to monetize whatever they say. I mean, you got it. The money has gone up. Yeah. Hey, Peter, as this airs Thursday morning. I want to take a quick look before we wrap at the Thursday night games. There are two of them. The Washington football team at New England Patriots. You mentioned Mac Jones, Cam Newton. Uh, that is a favorite for Washington minus one thirty um or you can look at the over under thirty five.

What do you like there? Well, you know me with the unders, I'll take you cockey now that's taking unders until I see different. But I actually really like the Pats plus two. I think you've got guys that are going to see considerable amount of time, potentially jared' Stidham, Mac Jones, guys that have something to prove. I know stid him to a degree is fighting for a job. So I like Pats plus two. I don't know what Washington is gonna do. I don't think Fitzpatrick is gonna

be playing much. Um, So I like the teams that have a little bit more depth and guys that are that are, you know, have something to play for. I think Another example is uh Niners on Saturday Night. I think they play actually the Chiefs. You might see Trey Lance for a pretty big portion of that game. I think it's understood that he's the backup now to Jimmy g But you've got guys that want to prove themselves and are gonna go out and play like it's a regular season game. So I think you have to take

some of that into effect. And and even if you think about Jags, they're playing the Browns, a lot of the first team Browns are not gonna be playing Jags are minus two. You can expect to see Trevor Lawrence at least playing a quarter maybe two. Um, So you got guys there that want to perform and just show that hey, I got drafted one overall for a reason,

I am fighting for the spot for a reason. And you've got to just back them because are they still are they still the Washington football team or have they come up with a name yet? One more year of Washington football team. I I personally think it's just a little bit of a scheme to get people to buy more of their their of the ft gear. It's gonna become retro at some point. So yeah, you sell it all now and then they switch over and all that stuff is worth a ton of money in twenty years times. Yeah,

that's that's what you call. You're a conspiracy theorist. Yeah, yeah, I'm out numbered now to the world is also the world is also flat too, so I'm all me and Kyrie. Yeah, good lord, now I was gonna say that's a good place to wrap. Now we just have to wrap before they get that. Peter, thank you again for joining us. A lot of fun as always, and hey football is back. God bless you and God bless football. Good luck this weekend. Guys. Okay, honest,

that was a lot of fun. Do you feel like you're ready for the first late of games this weekend? I am ready. My TV is not, though, so I'm gonna have to watch it is not. My couch is not, but I might. I might just sit on the floor, or I might just go to Target and get a bean back there you go. Yeah, but yeah, I'm super excited. I can't wait to see what my team, the Giants do this year hopefully good Thanks absolutely, we are so excited. I can't wait to get back at lambeau Field this weekend.

Next week we're gonna wrap everything up. We have NFL guests coming up over the next couple of months, so make sure you still stop off and hang out with us every week on Unleashed, follow us wherever you are on social media at bet MGM, and listen wherever you find your podcasts. CEO, don't forget to shout out your offensive line.