Just finished watching Bye Bye Barry.
After being a fan for over 55 years of watching Charlie Sanders, Billy Sims, Chris Spielman, Jerry Ball and so many others sacrifice there bodies for the love/passion of the game I get his emotions of walking away in a big way. Seeing the Mike Utley tragedy as well as Reggie Brown getting CPR on the field! Wow!
Then the team starts getting broke up, players getting ■■■■■■ with, where is the desire/passion to keep going?
I’m curious, am I the only one who thought this documentary was a tear jerker?
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Yup - Brutal.
I was pissed and confused, when Barry retired. Now, I view it more like he escaped Shawshank. Emotional for sure.
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I didn’t cry but my Lions experience leans catatonic 
I didn’t think it was a tear jerker, and I’m susceptible to those things. But it was moving. It made me finally forgive Barry – the team certainly did not know how to win, he didn’t care about personal goals, and he preserved his body. I think losing his center, Kevin Glover, was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
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Right there with you. Been around long enough to have enjoyed being a fan of those same players, and still remember how frustrating it was to watch the Lions dismantle a decent team for cost savings. I definitely had some leakage while watching. Brought back some amazingly powerful memories.
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I saw both of those tragedies live at the games.
Here’s his son:
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I really liked how Bill Bilichek brought up the Reggie Brown game. Just thought was something that meant a lot to him. Really enjoyed watching it.
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I was disappointed in that. Not because he brought it up, rather it seemed like there was more to his perspective that could have been shared. I just felt like that was added in as a last-minute edit or something.
I still cry every time they sign Scott Michell
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For me it was a show celebrating Barry so I don’t know how much they wanted to go into the Reggie Brown tragedy. But I can appreciate what you are saying.
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I haven’t watched it yet. I’ve been wanting to, I wanted to watch it with my son but he is more into the current team, not the past teams, which I get. I was going to watch it, but I want to see the division title happen first. I want to watch the present happen, then go back and look at where we were to where we are kinda thing.
I remember well when Barry left, and count me in as one of the fans who were pissed. I ALWAYS thought him retiring right before training camp did the Lions and the fans dirty. If you were wanting out so bad, why wait until the last minute?? Barry was always so humble, and so team orientated, that it didn’t make any sense to me. That’s where a lot of my own bitterness was rooted.
I read an article I think this year, that talked about why Barry waited until the night before training camp to retire. Barry had told all of those close to him he was done. So, really, the team knew. Those who paid attention were not surprised when he retired. As a personal favor, Ron Rivers asked Barry if he was really done, could Barry wait to announce he was retiring until before training camp, because Rivers knew the Lions would try to replace him and he would be out of a job. Barry agreed, and did exactly that. The fact Barry was willing to do that, in my eyes his decision went from selfish, to selfless. He did it to help someone else. Which, is very Barry. I understood then why he did it the way he did it, and I get it.
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Interesting. I had never heard that. So, he did a solid for one guy. But not so solid for the other 52.
I found the article, it was Dave Birkett. (not paywalled)
I don’t think Barry owed much else to the other 52. Everyone who knew him said no one cared, and played as hard as Barry. I think those guys would recognize Barry earned the right to go out his own way. Barry told other players he was done, so you know most of the locker room had to be aware of it. I’d still say Barry more hurt the organization, and fans. It hurt the organization by not giving them a chance to give Barry a proper sendoff and then improve the team, and it hurt the fans because not only did they lose their hero, now they had to watch a subpar team that had no opportunity to improve before the season started.
I will say personally, I don’t 100% agree with what Barry did and how he handled it. I just understand why he did it. I always look at how people do things and think I would’ve handled it different, but at the same time, it’s not my call. I do things people don’t agree with or understand too. I try to look at the intentions, and understand why they did what they did. That’s when I make my real determination of if I agree with someone or not. I see a lot of people give to charity, then immediately post about it on social media, or look around for the cameras. The act may be good, but the intent is not. That is not anyone I would ever put any faith or trust in.
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Yeah, good post, and appreciative of your perspective. I think Barry probably looked at it narrowly (whether it be for one guy, or a few of his closest comrades) and didn’t think of the broader implications. I think he hurt at least tens of thousands more people than he helped by going out his way, but its over and many of us now kinda get it.
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So how bad would it have been, and by how bad I mean how good would the Green Bay Packers have been if they drafted Barry?
Belichick was on the Jets sidelines that day as their DC. He is also a football historian of the highest order. He knew that a player had not often died on the field, let alone been revived, like Brown was that afternoon at the Silverdome.
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