Many people love the new Barry Sanders documentary, Bye, Bye, Barry. Former Detroit Lions quarterback Scott Mitchell is definitely not one of them.
After watching the documentary, which hit Prime Video this week, Mitchell took to Facebook to praise Barry Sanders but also to unleash a rant blasting his detractors in the film. Notably, Mitchell singled out rapper Eminem and actor Jeff Daniels.
“I just watched ‘Bye Bye Barry’ on Amazon Prime,” Mitchell wrote. “It was not a very pleasant experience. I was Barry Sanders’s 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!
Barry Sanders #20, running back for the Detroit Lions, ran the ball during the American Football Conference East game against the New England Patriots on 12 September 1993 at the Foxboro Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts, United States. (Damian Strohmeyer/Allsport/Getty Images)
“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 also lamented being reminded of the lack of confidence shown in him by then-Lions coach Wayne Fontes.
“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!”
Defensive tackles Brad Culpepper and Warren Sapp of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers put the pressure on quarterback Scott Mitchell of the Detroit Lions during a game at Houlihan’s Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers won the game 20-10. Manda
Mitchell even wrote that Sanders shoulders some blame for the team’s unrealized Super Bowl dreams.
“Bottom line, Barry Sanders had everything in Detroit,” Mitchell wrote. “Everyone loved him. Everything was built for Barry to succeed. In his ten-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.”
Mitchell, initially drafted by Miami, became a free-agency target for the Lions after his admirable job filling in for Dan Marino in 1993. As the Detroit News reports, he did have one particularly incredible season in 1995, when he threw for 4,338 yards and 32 touchdowns. Mitchell was traded to the Ravens after the 1998 season.
In all, he played 11 seasons in the NFL for the Dolphins, Lions, Ravens, and Bengals.