Former Detroit Lions quarterback Scott Mitchell is furious over what was said about him in the new Barry Sanders documentary and he made his feelings clear about it.
Mitchell has taken issue with Bye Bye Barry, a new documentary released by Amazon Prime centered on the life and legacy of Barry Sanders.
The former Detroit Lions quarterback unleashed a lengthy rant on Facebook mostly about the portrayal of his role in keeping Sanders from winning a Super Bowl with the Lions.
Mitchell took issue with the inflation of Sanders’ greatness, his lack of support from former coach Wayne Fontes, and even commentary from Michigan natives Eminem and Jeff Daniels.
“I just watched ‘Bye Bye Barry’ on Amazon Prime,” Mitchell wrote. “It was not a very pleasant experience. I was Barry Sanders teammate for five years. I had a front row seat to some of the most amazing plays in NFL history. He will never have an equal as a pure runner in the NFL. I could argue that their (sic) were several running backs that were more complete, but I won’t. Barry was great!
“However, I am so tired of hearing how I was the reason that Barry Sanders never won a Super Bowl,” Mitchell continued. “I’m so tired of hearing how I was not a good QB. My only response is F–K YOU ALL!!!!! That includes Eminem (and) Jeff Daniels.”
Mitchell said it was difficult to hear the coach’s lack of support for him after he said in the documentary he wished he had been able to provide Sanders a better quarterback.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NFL stories via Google! Follow Us
“I can’t even began (sic) to tell you what a disappointment it is to (hear) my own coach, Wayne Fontes, who went out in free agency and actively (pursued) me to the point of begging me to come to Detroit, say that he wanted Joe Montana or Warren Moon, and that the only thing that was missing from the team winning the Super Bowl was a quarterback,” Mitchell wrote. “A little support from the coach might have gone a long way. Wayne never had my back!”
Mitchell landed with the Lions before the 1994 season after seven impressive games filling in for an injured Dan Marino on the Dolphins. Detroit signed him to a lucrative three-year, $11 million contract as a free agent.
Mitchell had an up-and-down five seasons with the Lions, including a 1995 season when he threw for 4,338 yards and 32 touchdowns to push the team to a 10-6 record.
The retired quarterback called out the team’s lack of patience as well as Sanders’ own playoff performances, as being bigger factors in preventing the franchise from winning a Super Bowl.
“Bottom line, Barry Sanders had everything in Detroit,” Mitchell wrote. “Everyone loved him. Everything was built for Barry to succeed. In his 10 year career, he won one playoff game and the only reason he didn’t win more was everyone else was the problem? How many yards did Barry have in the playoffs in ’94, ’95, ’97? I’ll give you a hint not very many. We all are to blame for not winning a (Super Bowl) in Detroit even Barry Sanders.
“I will believe until I die that had we been given more time and patience with the offense, we had and the talent we had we could have made a deep run in the playoffs and competed to win a Super Bowl.”
His career with the Lions would go to the 1998 season before he was traded to the Baltimore Ravens. In four years with Detroit, he posted a 27-30 record as a starter, plus an 0-2 mark in the postseason.
