ESPN's Dave Revsine reported on "SportsCenter" last
night that former Lions RB Barry Sanders has offered to
repay the Lions a portion of his $11M signing bonus "if they
will release him or trade him." Sanders' agent David Ware,
when asked "if this was a signal" that Sanders still wants
to play in the league: "I think he's ready to consider it in
the right situation. But the right situation is not the
Detroit Lions" (ESPN, 9/14). Ware, on Sanders: "He doesn't
like to deal in hypotheticals" (AP, 9/15). In Detroit, Mike
O'Hara reports that Sanders "has been paid" $9.17M of the
$11M signing bonus. Lions COO Chuck Schmidt, on the Lions
asking for $5.5M of the bonus from Sanders: "We don't think
that the circumstances are any different than what [Sanders]
said in his retirement release. When Barry signed the
contract, everybody agreed he would retire a Detroit Lion.
He decided to retire" (DETROIT NEWS, 9/15). Also in
Detroit, Drew Sharp, on Sanders: "Six weeks ago, Barry was
tired of playing football. Now he's just tired of playing
for the Lions. What? Do we all have the word stupid
written across our foreheads?" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 9/15).
