The Wichita Eagle from Wichita, Kansas • 7

Wednesday July 28 1999 THE WICHfTA EAGLE tA Barry retirement from football Systems at a glance tm 3 ril yn Atlanta 1998 $17 billion The Sanders File Gttduated from North High in Wichita gushed tor 1417 yards as a senior even though he didn't start at tailback until fourth game of the season Broke City 'league singleseason record with Bishop Carrail's JBradWIesen 1987 Rushed for 664 'yards as a sophomore backup tailback at Oklahoma State Was second-team alhAmerica kick returner I Employees: 9785 i Systems in 15 states 1 34 million subscribers Jma 3kJ Wichita 1998 sales: $232 million 3 Employees: 1100 Systems In three states 522000 subscribers Hoovers Online SEC -a a in MULTIMEDIA Won the Heisman Trophy as a junior at OSU alter settlrg NCAA records for singleseason rushing yards (2628) touchdowns (39) jtfFfxypose yards (3250) and draage allpurpose yards (2955) AIsq won Walter Camp and Maxwell awards 1989 JjSetepted by the Detroit Lions as the SBmtL pick in the first round of the NFL Stalk Signed a fiveyear $95 million SBDrttract 3 ftirtied NFL Rookie of the Year Safterrushing for 1470 yards From Page IA communication East i Cox offers broadband ternet access service called -Ex-dteHame which eventually cocfid replace Multimedia Road Runnfer iilan Am Mm service MuunnecuSs coniract iot me Road Runner service however dobs not expire for some time said Mike Burros Multimedia Cablevisioa president It is too soon to know whether foe mix of channel offerings or pridQg will change East said Those decisions are made in each local market Burras said the company constantly is assessing its channel lineups The sale will not affect ftfiy changes the company may makefile SBoo' his first NFL rushing title 38Jfytl304 yards He would win IBfetitle again in and 97 Billy Sims as asrmsning leader It also too early to tell whetfapr there will be any job cuts locally Eqst said but Cox historically does oof cut jobs when it enters a new market Multimedia employs about 650 pedjfie in Kansas including 350 in WicUft? Some jobs may be cut however 1n the Oklahoma City area where foe companies duplicate SjBrfied for yards the ysixttvhighest singleseason UJgtalin NFL history $1997 Jf Became only the third naming attack in NFL history to break the mark in a season (2053) Became the first player In NFL history to gain at least 1500 aw- 23t pur consecutive seasons pt Set another NFL record by gaining at least 100 yards in 14 consecutive garttes Jft Named NFL Offensive Player of the Year and NFL coMVP Briefly became the highest-paid player In NFL history by signing SCsfryear $36 million contract with Detroit £1998 Became the first player in NFL history to rush for l000or-more yards £BtlO consecutive seasons and 10 seasons to start a career jTEttablished 16 Detroit team mshing records Selected to the Pro Bowl in 11 $0 seasons Became the secondieading career rusher in NFL history i Bany Sanders' retirement statement The reason I am retiring is simple: My desire to exit the game Is greater than my desire to reman in it I have searched my heart through and through and feel comfortable with this decision I want to thank all of the fan? and meda who made playing in the NFL such a wonderful experience I have had the pleasure of meeting many of them Although I was not dbie to honor many of your requests for auto-graphs and interviews it was not because I overlooked the importance of those who asked Finally I want to thank my family and friends for their support and guidance I wish my teammates coaches and the entire Lions organization all the best Shortly alter the end of last season I felt that I prob-TThbly would not return for the 1999-2000 season I also felt that I should take as much time as possible to sort through my feelings and make sure that my feelings backed with conviction Today I officially declare ISmy departure from the NFL SSttwas a wonderful experience to play In the NFL and jjChavb no regrets I truly will miss playing for the Lions I Sohsider the Lions' players coaches staff management and fans my family I leave on good terms with everyone in the organization I have enjoyed playing for two great head coaches Wayne Fontes and Bobby Ross who are good coaches and leaders I am not involved in a salary dispute of any kind If I had played this season I would have earned a more than satisfactory salary Burros said the local operatknits billing service cans and customfer service will continue as is Linda Bannister a media analyst with Edward Jones agreed "1 don't think you're going to saga dramatic change in service she saM The price Cox is paying Ganneh based in Arlington Va for its caSe operations amounts to $i500 to RMOO fur each of Multimedia approximately 522IXX) subscribers deporting on how it calculated That ooenof foe highest prices ever paid fora cable system The Gannett board cf directors approved the deal Tuesday Gannett cable properties are a natural fit with our growth strategy of adding large technologically advanced properties in standalone markets contiguous to our existing said Jim Robbins Cox president and chief executive in a news release y3t "This acquisitions win allow us to establish a large presence in and will significantly enhance ready strong presence he said Cox the fiftMaigest US caMe company has been on a buying spree lately snapping up companies to extend its broad reach in markets the United StatesL Aiready tMs it announced four acquisttioqs plans to acquire 495JM0 customers from and 8834300 customers from TCA Cable Once pending deals are dosed Cox will serve about 6 million custom in 18 states The acquisition of Multimedia qn give Cox a bigger market share inthe Southwest and Midwest Cable companies such as Cax aje building large regional groupingspr dusters to help market and defiver news services such as digital came and highspeed Internet access more efficiently Cox offers highspeed Internet service in 10 of its markets and telephone service in six markets Gox buys longdistance minutes from Mu WorldCom and rebrands themas Cox East said A comparison of Cox tions current cable TV service inOjc-lahoma City with Multimedia Cahtyi-skm service in Wichita shows some differences in how channels are bundled and priced In Wichita Multimedia offers customers a basic package of aboutjJO cable channels for $2576 A preferred tier adding CNN Disney TNT TNN TBS WGN and the Family Channel is $3051 a month And a variety tier which adds the Golf Channel the Network ESPN2 foe Histofy Channel and others is $360 a monfo By contrast in Oklahoma City qx offers a limited basic package of j5 channels for $6L17 a month An expanded package adds 42 more channels for $2148 and a complete beSic with six additional channels package i SANDERS tiv It been fairly oblivious to that Ware said "He obviously knew it was there and be was getting closer but his goal never was to break Walter Payton's record He not much on individual records" Sanders will retire as Detroit aMme leading rusher and the holder of nine NFL rushing recordsL In 1907 he became only the third running bade in NFL history to rush for 2)0 yards joining OJ Simpson and Eric OIckcrooiL He is the only back in NFL history to rush for at least L000 i in 10 consecutive seasons and in 10 seasons to start a ca- -M'- 1 1 rp J- A 1 -C i iNV 'T li 11 A "4ft' Hjft 4 't- fi-ll-" i' 1 From Page 1A nap AUantabased agent David Ware to telephone the news to Lions General Manager Chuck Schmidt oo Tuesday night then -fox Us statement to the dub today "I think he want the focus to be on him Ware said "He doesn't want to be a distraction to his teammates or the Sanders who celebrated his 31st birthday 12 days ago says in Us Btetement that he knew following the 1996 season that he wanted to retire Detroit finished the season with a 5-11 record its second 5-11 record in three yearn But Sanders declined to reveal Us decision until now because "I felt that I should take as much time as possible to sort through my feelings and make sure that my feelings were backed with conviction' he says in Us statement The decision surprised even those dose to him 1 knew that he was thinking about a lot of things Including retiring" Ware said "but I didn't know that he was going to retire until he told me two days ago Ware said mat Sanders doesn't want to disclose Us plans for the hitme "Initially the key win be spending time with Us son (fiyear-old ILJ)" Ware said "He has talked to us about a number of things he's been planning Ware said Sanders is financially prepared to leave the game "It fairly accurate to say that he doesn't have any financial soooeras at an" Ware said But Sanders apparently is willing to pay a Ugh price to retire It wifi cost Um more than $20 million ki salary and bonuses as wefl aaa chance to become the NFL alHlme career mshing leader Sanders had four yean remaining on a six-year $10 million contract with the Lions By retiring now Ware said Sanders will forfeit the remaining years of the contrad which called for Um to earn $1375 million this season $437 million in the year 2000 and $46 million in 2001 In 2002 his salary was to match mat of the highest-paid running back in the league at the time as long as that amount was no less than $8 million Iq addition Sanders will forfeit the remaining $175 million of an' $11 million signing bonus He's fully aware of the flmnrini ramifications of what he doing" Ware said "Money has never been a motivating factor forUm" Recent reports have said that the Washington Redskins are interested in swapping draft choices for Sanders but the Lions have said that huge salary made trading him to another team virtually impossible because of the league's salary cap the maximum teams can spend on player salaries The cap is $572 million per team in 1999 Sanders wasn't interested in a trade anyway Ware said "We never had a trade discussion with them" Ware said reer Sanders who didn't start as a running back at North High until the fourth game of his senior season burst onto the national scene in 1968 as a junior at Oklahoma State In Us first and only year as a starter in the OSU backfield he smashed many NCAA singleseason mshing and sewing records and woa the Heisman Trophy in a landslide vote Sanders skipped his senior season at OSU to turn pro and be went on to become NFL Rookie of the Year for the Lions in 1969 He made the Pro Bowl all 10 of Us seasons and became a sure bet to make the NFL Hall of Fame The Lions had been expecting Sanders to report to their preseason camp in Saginaw Mick with the other veterans on Thursday after he foiled to respond to a June 1 deadline by head coach Bobby Rose to reveal any retirement plans Sanders had passed up a mandatory team minicamp and a voluntary summer camp and he declined to respond to repeated attempts by Roes to contact him Ware said that Sanders was avoiding the Lions and others to consider Us decision to retire "I tMnk he wanted to make whatever decision he made without any pressure from anybody from us from the Lions organization or anybody" Ware said Although Sanders was rumored to be dejected about the prospect of continuing to play for the Lions Us statement praises Ross and the organization "I truly will miss playing for the Lions I consider the Lions' players coaches staff management and fans my family" the statement says "I leave on good terms with everyone in the or ganization "I have enjoyed playing for two great head coaches Wayne Fontes and Bobby Ross who are good coaches and Ware said that if Sanders ever decided to return to the NFL it would have to be with the Lions unless they traded him or his rights But Ware said Sanders is firm In Us decision to retire In Us statement Sanders also thanks Us family and friends for their support and he even thanks the media Tt was a wonderfol experience playing in the NFL and I have no he says the statement 4 yr-fs is $2861 East the Cox Communicatiops spokesman emphasized that the company cable TV operators make those decisions at the local leveL Gannett cable systems "are stirte-of-theart properties that would fit well with Cox said Jarifes Goss an analyst with Barrington Tfe-search in CMcaga "It gives Cox even greater critical mass and they don't really have to invest much to upgrade them to be compatible with their systems" be OmFUipMo In 1988 at OMahoma Stale Bany Sanders set or tied 34 NCAA records Inducing rushing yards and rushing touchdowns speaking of the Lions "Bany never made a request to be traded" Sanders says in Us statement that Us silence about his foture was not an attempt to leverage the Lions for more money "I am not involved in a contract dispute of any kind the statement says If I hod played this season I would have earned a more than satisfactory The statement does not reveal Sanders' feelings about giving up a chance to break the NFL alHime rushing record held by former Chicago Bear running back Walter Payton Sanders will leave the game on the threshold of Payton record of 16726 yards He needs only L56 yards to top the record and he has averaged L52B yards per year over Us career Mofiy McMKh cm raaefcad at 2696708 or at rat Oaanb Fmico cm ba roackad at 200-0502 or at dpaarcagirtriiknufebMat Frsd Mm cm be 2684310 i MM.