DETROIT - The Lions retired the numbers of three of their greatest players yesterday. That would be No. 20 Barry Sanders, No. 20 Billy Sims and No. 20 Lem Barney.
All three were on hand for a ceremony before Detroit's game against Indianapolis - the Colts won 41-9 - and were honorary captains for the coin toss.
Barney, a seven-time Pro Bowl selection in the defensive backfield, wore the number from 1967-77.
It then went to Sims, a Heisman Trophy winner from Oklahoma, who rushed for more than 5,000 yards and 42 touchdowns in five seasons (1980-84) before a knee injury ended his career.
The number had plenty of magic left, though, as Sanders was a Pro Bowl pick in each of his 10 seasons (1989-98) with the Lions. He retired as the No. 2 rusher in NFL history - he's now No. 3 - with a league-record 25 career games with 150-plus yards rushing.
Barney and Sanders are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
"I thought this was a great idea," Sanders said. "I was glad they didn't retire it after Lem and Billy. There was probably a lot of good luck left in it. To be able to have this day with Billy and Lem is special."
Barney said that if his return yardage was added to the offensive numbers posted by Sims and Sanders, "that's well over 27,000 yards," for those three players wearing No. 20. "If anyone was going to come in [and wear No. 20 after that], he'd have to be a little better than Superman to wear it."
DRUMMOND HURT: About the only thing the Lions have had going for them lately is kick return specialist Eddie Drummond, and they lost him to a fractured shoulder blade on the second-half kickoff return.
"We're going to miss Eddie," Detroit coach Steve Mariucci said. "He'll have a CT scan tomorrow to determine if he requires surgery, but it looks like he's going to be lost for the year."
Drummond entered yesterday's game as both the top kick returner (27.2 yards on average) and punt returner (13.7 yards) this season in the NFL.
JOEY PULLED: One of the day's biggest cheers from an announced crowd of 63,107 at Ford Field came with 2:05 remaining in the third quarter when quarterback Joey Harrington was lifted in favor of backup Mike McMahon.
Harrington, whose status as the starter was reportedly on the rocks a week ago, completed 14 of 23 passes for 156 yards with no TD passes and no interceptions. He was sacked twice and lost a fumble on one of those occasions that led to a Colts' touchdown drive.
"I thought Joey was doing OK," Mariucci said. "But when the score got away from us I thought it was a good time to jump Mike McMahon in there and give him some playing time. Joey's our starter and he's our backup. But it is good for us to let him play."
The cheering for McMahon didn't last long. He completed two straight passes, but rookie Roy Williams fumbled after the second completion.
THREE-DOT DATA: Lions running back Kevin Jones (team-high 99 yards on 12 carries) broke loose for a 40-yard gain late in the first quarter. It was Detroit's longest run from scrimmage since Aveion Cason spurted 40 yards against Tampa Bay in December 2002. .●.●. Detroit's Shaun Rogers has had five blocked field goals during his career and yesterday he added his first extra-point block, swatting down an attempt by Mike Vanderjagt after the Colts' second touchdown. .●.●. Lions tight end Stephen Alexander had a season-high 58 yards on five catches. .●.●. Detroit cornerback Fernando Bryant had a season-high nine tackles. .●.●. Lions running back Shawn Bryson had season highs in receiving (44) and rushing (51) yards.
First Published November 26, 2004, 11:21 a.m.
