Barry Sanders signs intimate Detroit Lions memorabilia

FORMER NFL star Barry Sanders got a lot closer to his old locker room than he would have liked at an autograph signing in Michigan.

Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders walks through London's Gatwick Airport after arriving from Detroit. Sanders has ann...

WHEN Barry Sanders retired from the NFL in 1998, he left Pontiac Silverdome, home of the Detroit Lions for 26 years, for good. Little did he know, 15 years down the track he would come closer to parts of the stadium than ever before, perhaps too close.

After the Lions moved to Ford Field at the end of the 2001 season, Pontiac Silverdome went mostly unused until it was eventually closed and the contents were auctioned off in March last year.

Sanders, a former Heisman Trophy winner who played 10 seasons with the Lions, came out on Twitter at the time saying that he would sign anything but a urinal.

Unfortunately, Sanders was forced to eat his words when a diehard Lions fan presented him with exactly that, a urinal from the home change room.

The fan had bought the entire contents of the home change room for a measly $US23. Samer Kalaf recounted the moment the fan unveiled the loo to the Pro Football Hall of Famer on Deadspin.

“I reached the table with Barry and I uncovered the urinal telling him it was from his old locker room. He responded, ‘Are you for real?’ I said, ‘Yes, will you sign it?’ Barry said, ‘I refuse’ and after a short pause he laughed and said, ‘No problem, where should I sign?’”

The signed urinal is posted on eBay, now bidding at US$730.