Founded in 1962, NFL Films spent the following 45 years focusing on short films (40 minutes or less), which included season highlights, annual team collections, blooper reels, and condensed Super Bowl games. First narrated by “voice of God” announcer John Facenda (until his 1984 death) and then Harry Kalas, these minimovies were concise, to the point, and sported major studio-level production values.
Beginning in 2007, the company began branching out with formats that included features, docuseries, TV shows, bio flicks, and most recently, co-productions with Netflix and Amazon Prime. Some of these were good, most were not, and the two most recent efforts (“Quarterback” and “Kelce”) were middling at best.
With “Bye Bye Barry,” NFL Films (in tandem with Amazon) has produced its best overall feature effort since the 2010 “Lombardi” (co-produced by HBO).
Lean But Not Mean
Jettisoning the frequently tedious, overstuffed, multichapter docuseries format, the weakly titled “Bye Bye Barry” clocks in at a muscular and lean 94 minutes and chronicles the life and career of Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders.One of the few modern-day backs to spend his entire pro career with a single team, the Detroit Lions, Mr. Sanders played college ball at Oklahoma State and was the third overall pick in the 1989 NFL draft. As a junior, Mr. Sanders was awarded the highly coveted Heisman Trophy (although he himself didn’t think he deserved it).
He is the only back who played five or more years to rush for 1,000 or more yards every year in the league, doing so once while playing in only 11 of 16 games, and is one of just 14 backs to rush for 2,000 or more yards in a single season. Over 30 years later, Mr. Sanders still holds 10 NCAA rushing records.
The previous two paragraphs were included here to remind longtime football fans just how unique and special Mr. Sanders was, and how much he meant in the overall spectrum of the game. Nobody has ever achieved everything that Mr. Sanders did as a player.
Life Off the Field
Co-directed by Paul Monusky, Micaela Powers, and Angela Torma, the remainder of “Bye Bye Barry” profiles Mr. Sanders off of the field. It provides us with anecdotes and testimony from his friends and family, which presents him as one of the most humble, unselfish, admirable, and honorable athletes in the history of professional American sports.The tagline from the movie’s poster—“The Greatest Mystery in Sports History”—is a bit of a stretch, but not by much.
The day before Mr. Sanders was to report for training camp at the start of his 11th season, he sent a fax to The Wichita Eagle (Kansas), the daily paper in his hometown, declaring his departure from the NFL. While many chided and derided him, calling this a cowardly act, it fit in perfectly with the manner Mr. Sanders conducted every facet of his life. There would be no emotionally wrought press conference, no superfluous flummery, no finger-pointing, and no burning of bridges.
The talk around the nation’s water coolers at the time was that Mr. Sanders was simply tired of playing for a perennial loser, which the Lions were and frequently remain. The team is one of only a handful of current teams, and the only team from the old NFL, to never play in a Super Bowl. Their last NFL Championship was in 1957.
It is suggested in the movie by his former teammates that Mr. Sanders was also leery of possible crippling injuries, as other Lions players Mike Utley and Reggie Brown were left paralyzed on the field of play.
His Choice
Whatever the reasons, they were important enough for Mr. Sanders to walk away a mystery and a legend, instead of perhaps slipping into mediocrity and embarrassment on the field as subsequent years passed.One of 11 children born to parents William and Shirley Sanders, Mr. Sanders was taught at an early age to be respectful of others, to behave with decorum, and to never get too full of himself. His late father, in particular, was a strict disciplinarian, yet he was never far from the sidelines for the duration of his son’s high school, college, and professional careers. The father was also beside his son when he was included in the NFL Hall of Fame in 2004.
The film is a brilliant example of what can happen when responsible and conscientious parents raise their children in a proper, respectful, and gracious manner—something that seems to be in woefully short supply these days.
