The first inkling Robert Porcher had that Barry Sanders was considering retirement came immediately after the Detroit Lions’ season-ending loss to the Baltimore Ravens in 1998.
Porcher had settled into his seat on the plane ride home from Baltimore when fellow Lions defensive lineman Tracy Scroggins came up to him in a mild panic.
“He said, ‘Man, you need to go back there and talk to Barry,’ ” Porcher recalled recently. “And I was like, ‘Talk to Barry about what?’ And he said, ‘Man, he said he’s going to retire.’ And I was just like, I was like, ‘Hell, everybody wants to retire after tonight.