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Barry Sanders Net Worth in 2022: The Highest Paid NFL Player

As a retired American football player, Barry Sanders has known as the highest paid NFL player ever in 1997, which led him to have a bunch amount of net worth.

So how much is Barry Sanders net worth?

Here are some highlights about Barry Sanders net worth, career, and personal life.

Summary Table
Stage Name Barry Sanders
Legal Name Barry Sanders
Date of Birth July 16, 1968
Gender Male
Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Barry Sanders Net Worth $30 million
Salary / earning / income per year $851 thousand annually
Profession Football Player
Nationality American

Barry Sanders Profile

Here is some basic information about Barry Sanders:

  • Legal Name & Stage Name: Actually, Barry Sanders is his real name. There was no report found that ever used any other names during his career.
  • Date of Birth: He was born on July 16, 1968.
  • Gender & Height: Barry Sanders is a male with a height of 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) tall.
  • Nationality: Sanders was born in Wichita; Kansas and he is an American.
  • What is Barry Sanders Best Known for?
    • Barry Sanders is a former professional football player who is popularly known for his skill in quickness and agility.
    • He has played as the running back for the Detroit Lions team of the NFL.
Barry Sanders Net Worth
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Beginning of Barry Sanders

Barry Sanders was born and raised in Kansas with his parents William and Shirley Sanders. Sanders has 10 siblings and his parents taught their children about the value of dedication and hard work.

Sanders was a natural athlete since he was a child. He used to play alongside his brother during his high school years in Kansas. Some numerous colleges offered scholarships to Sanders after he graduated from high school, ending with his choice to join Oklahoma State University and he played for Oklahoma State Cowboys.

  • Education: Barry Sanders attended Wichita North High School and Oklahoma State University.
  • Marriage:
    • Barry Sanders was married once in 2000 with Lauren Campbell, a former American news anchor.
    • However, his marriage does not work well and he choose to divorce his wife in 2012.
    • From his marriage, he and his ex-wife have four sons, named Nicholas Sanders, Nigel Sanders, Noah Sanders, and Barry J. Sanders.
    • One of his sons, Barry J. Sanders followed his footsteps by playing as a running back for Stanford University.

Barry Sanders’s Career

Barry Sanders Net Worth
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Barry Sanders’s career began from his collegial career at Oklahoma University before he then successfully pursued a professional career. To understand Barry Sanders net worth, here are some highlights about his career which became his wealth primarily income.

College Career

At college, Barry Sanders played football for the Oklahoma State Cowboys in 1986-1988. During this time, he was considered to be the greatest individual season in American college football history. Barry Sanders played in 32 games with some fantastic records like averaging 7.6 yards per carrying and over 200 yards per game. He decided to leave college before his senior year to enter the NFL draft.

Barry Sanders Professional Career

Barry Sanders made his debut career as a professional football player by joining Detroit Lions in 1989. Unfortunately, he failed to make his first rookie year due to a contract dispute and comeback in the next season.

Barry brought the Detroit Lions to reach the playoff nine times during his career in the 1990s. Until 1998, he played for the same team and he averaged more than 1,500 rushing yards for each season. In 1997 he obtained the best season of his life by becoming a member of the 2,000 rushing yards club.

Barry was popularly known as a humble player, who rarely over celebrated the winning during his career. In spite of his excellent performance, he got many critics due to not showing up in the big games and disappointing the teams during playoffs.

Due to his wonderful skill in playing football, he has won many awards that are almost impossible to write it down in this post. But, some of his reputable awards are including Heisman Trophy, Best NFL Player ESPY Award, Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, etc.

Barry Sanders Net Worth

Barry Sanders net worth is currently estimated at around $ 30 million USD. Barry Sanders net worth is quite stable now after the experience of facing financial difficulties following his retirement. Here is some information related to Barry Sanders net worth and wealth.

  • Real Estate: Barry Sanders net worth was reportedly related to four real estate investments that he owned, which the location of these properties is difficult to find and kept to be private.
  • Cars: There is no detailed information about Barry Sanders net worth related to the vehicle. However, a humble Barry Sanders reported that he purchased a used Jaguar in 2015.

Income Details

Barry Sanders was also reported the NFL’s highest-paid player in 1997, with an annual salary was around $5.7 Million. However, his early retirement caused a drop in his income. The court documents ever revealed that his income decreased from $6.4 million per year to just $851,000 per year after his controversial decision to retire just two years after signing his Detroit Lions contract.

Barry Sander Net Worth
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As a former football player, the majority of Barry Sanders net worth sources came from playing for the Detroit Lions team. In addition, he also continues to earn the royalties for the annual sales of the autobiography book that he released, titled “Barry Sanders Now you see him: His Story in His Own Words”.

After facing financial difficulties following his retirement, Barry stated that he makes money from $7 million in tax-exempt municipal bonds.

  • Barry Sanders Jersey Worth: The current update about Barry Sanders’s Jersey with his autographs is valued between $460-950.
  • Barry Sanders Rookie Card Worth: Barry Sanders’s Rookie Cards was valued from $1,99 to $1000 with the most expensive card being Barry Sanders Detroit Lions Autographed 1989 Topps #83T Rookie Card (PSA 9).

Barry Sanders Retirement

Yes, Barry Sanders retired from his career as a football player, just 2 years after he signed his second contract with Detroit Lions.

Even though he has retired as a professional football player, he still continues to appear in NFL events. Then in 2017, Sanders took on a role as a Brand Ambassador with the Detroit Lions. The Lions team used a lot of efforts to recruit Sanders to become Brand Ambassador of the team since the moment he retired. In addition, same as most friendly NFL stars, Sanders also dedicates his time in retirement to doing charity.