DETROIT – A former Detroit Lions quarterback posted a fiery rant on social media, blasting Barry Sanders, Eminem, and others over the way he was portrayed in a new documentary.
“Bye Bye Barry” is a documentary that was released earlier this week and covers the career of legendary Lions running back Barry Sanders.
Sanders spent 10 seasons with the Lions, gaining 18,190 total yards and scoring 109 touchdowns. Two of the primary topics in the documentary are Sanders’ abrupt retirement and the team’s lack of playoff success during his career.
The documentary includes comments from rapper Eminem, actor Jeff Daniels, former Lions head coach Wayne Fontes. All three talked about how they wish Sanders would have had more support on Detroit’s roster, and quarterback play was definitely brought up as an issue.
Well, the quarterback from that era, Scott Mitchell, watched the documentary, and he didn’t appreciate those insinuations.
In a Facebook post about “Bye Bye Barry,” Mitchell wrote that Sanders had everything he needed to win a Super Bowl in Detroit.
Here’s the full post (with some typos corrected for clarity):
I just watched ‘Bye Bye Barry’ on Amazon Prime. It was not a very pleasant experience. I was Barry Sanders’ teammate for five years. I had a front row seat to some of the most amazing plays in NFL history. He will never have an equal as a pure runner in the NFL. I could argue that (there) were several running backs that were more complete, but I won’t. Barry was great!
However, I am so tired of hearing how I was the reason that Barry Sanders never won a Super Bowl. I’m so tired of hearing how I was not a good QB. My only response is F--- YOU ALL!!!!! That includes Eminem and Jeff Daniels.
I can’t even (begin) to tell you what a disappointment it is to hear my own coach, Wayne Fontes, who went out in free agency and actively (recruited) me to the point of begging me to come to Detroit, say that he wanted Joe Montana or Warren Moon, and that the only thing that was missing from the team winning the Super Bowl was a quarterback. A little support from the coach might have gone a long way. Wayne never had my back!
Bottom line, Barry Sanders had everything in Detroit. Everyone loved him. Everything was built for Barry to succeed. In his 10-year career, he won one playoff game and the only reason he didn’t win more was everyone else was the problem? How many yards did Barry have in the playoffs in ‘94, ‘95, ‘97? I’ll give you a hint: not very many. We all are to blame for not winning a (championship) in Detroit, even Barry Sanders.
I will believe until I die that had we been given more time and patience with the offense, and the talent we had, we could have made a deep run in the playoffs and competed to win a Super Bowl.
Former Detroit Lions QB Scott Mitchell
Mitchell played for the Lions from 1994-1998, throwing for 12,647 yards, 79 touchdowns, and 57 interceptions. He completed 56.7% of his passes and averaged 6.8 yards per attempt.
The Lions went 27-30 when Mitchell played those five seasons.
Sanders played in six playoff games during his career, rushing for 386 yards and one touchdown. He averaged 4.2 yards per carry in those games. The Lions went 1-5.