Barry Sanders loves Lions’ rich history and seeing new fans embrace it

The Detroit Lions missed the playoffs this season and that shocked a lot of people.

This sentence is in and of itself a shocking sort of thing. Football fans who have been around for a while will recall that for a long time, with all due respect, nobody expected much of anything from the 313 as far as professional football was concerned.

And then Dan Campbell happened.

It is true that the 2025 season was a disappointment for Detroit and it will be fascinating to see how they rebound from it next year. They have earned the benefit of the doubt and become one of the more trustworthy teams in the league which is, again, kind of a shocking sort of overall thing.

While in San Francisco at Super Bowl LX we had the chance to talk to arguably the greatest Lions player of all time in Barry Sanders. We asked about the team having high expectations and if that has been neat to see with a whole new generation learning about the Lions overall history. You can watch our conversation below.

Rocket is using the Super Bowl Experience to spotlight connection. Just as the Super Bowl brings people together through sports, neighbors are what connect our homes to our communities. With only about 26% of Americans saying they know all or most of their neighbors, according to Pew Research Center, Rocket is using this moment to remind fans how everyday connections between neighbors can strengthen the places we live and why that message feels especially timely right now. 

Mr. Sanders also spoke about this year’s Hall of Fame class and had extreme reverence for each and every member. He is clearly still a student of the game and an incredible ambassador for both the league at large and the Lions individually.

He echoed the sentiment that everything began with Dan Campbell. Perhaps this time next year he’ll be talking about the Lions in this particular game.