On this date in 1998, Barry Sanders – subject of the next new episode of “A Football Life”, premiering Dec. 5 on NFL Network – became just the second back in NFL history to rush for more than 15,000 yards. It wasn’t Sanders’s best single-game performance – he gained only 33 yards on 20 carries – yet he still managed to join the 15,000 club, alongside the great Walter Payton. Currently, Sanders ranks third all-time in rushing, behind Payton and Emmitt Smith.
While Sanders did gain thousands of rushing yards, he also is the all-time leader in rushing yards lost by a running back with 1,114. Here’s a look back at some of the most thrilling negative yardage plays in NFL history, as originally presented in “NFL Films Presents.”
