Bob Sanders was once among the best at his position in the NFL, a definite top-3 safety at the top of his game. However, as life in the NFL goes, times have changed and now he’s been let go by the team that gave him his shot in the pros.
According to Colts owner Jim Irsay, Indianapolis has released Sanders today, cutting ties with the former two-time All-Pro after seven years with the team.
This news will surprise many at first glance, but the Colts had to have been planning for this day. Sanders, while he’s an extraordinary talent, just can’t stay on the field; he’s played in only nine games over a three-year period. He has battled knee and bicep surgeries, along with a bum shoulder, over the years which has kept him off the gridiron.
If anything else, at least Sanders can say he was instrumental in the Colts’ 2006 Super Bowl run. He capped off a very solid ’06 campaign with an interception in the Big Game as Indy took home the Lombardi Trophy. He followed that up by winning the league’s Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2007, when he recorded 96 tackles, 3.5 sacks, two interceptions, and six pass deflections.
Things quickly fizzled after that year, though. The aforementioned injuries caused him to miss a good chunk of the 2008 season and landed him on injured reserve in 2009 and 2010.
Set to turn 30-years old in six days, it’s unlikely Sanders will ever recapture his dominant form of years past. As a free-agent, teams will be hesitant to pull the trigger on a guy who simply can’t stay healthy at all.
