By LARRY LAGE
MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. (AP) — Barry Sanders was not motivated by statistics during his Pro Football Hall of Fame career, memorably opting to retire instead of playing one more season to likely break the NFL’s all-time rushing record.
“It never was a driver for me,” Sanders said Monday in an interview with The Associated Press.
Nearly 15 months after he had a heart attack, cholesterol numbers have become critically important for the Detroit Lions great. Sanders is hoping to encourage people to talk with their physicians about their cardiovascular health.
“I hope that they take advantage of just having the conversation with their doctor to see what their LDL-C number is — LDL-C is bad cholesterol,” Sanders said. “So many of us are impacted by heart disease. Hardly anybody is untouched when you think about a loved one or a friend or relative.”
Last year on Father’s Day, he woke up with a burning sensation in the middle of his chest and drove himself to the hospital that night after the pain didn’t subside.
“They proceeded to run tests and and told me that it was a heart attack,” Sanders recalled. “Spent a few days in the hospital, got on a good treatment plan.”
Sanders later partnered with Amgen Inc., a biotech drug developer, to amplify his new role as a heart health advocate with a documentary and interviews.
The 57-year-old Sanders retired just before training camp in 1999, when he was within striking distance of Walter Payton’s then-record 16,726 rushing yards. Emmitt Smith later set the league mark of 18,355 yards that still stands.
Sanders ran for 15,269 yards for Detroit, a career that included an MVP award in 1997, six All-Pro nods and a Pro Bowl berth in each of his 10 seasons. Detroit drafted Sanders with the No. 3 overall pick in 1989 after his Heisman Trophy-winning season with Oklahoma State.
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