From NFL Hall of Fame to Heart Health Advocate

Barry Sanders Opens Up About Heart Attack Risks

Barry Sanders is best known for outrunning opponents on the football field as one of the best running backs in the history of the National Football League (NFL). But in the summer of 2024, while on a recruiting trip with his son, Barry felt discomfort in his chest, drove himself to the hospital, and soon learned of a condition he could not outrun: a heart attack.

The NFL Hall of Famer is now a spokesperson for Amgen and an advocate for heart health. He spoke with BLACK ENTERPRISE about the risk factors Americans should look for—particularly LDL-C or “bad” cholesterol—as well as Amgen’s documentary “The Making of a Heart Attack.“

“We’ve been getting the word out for the last year or so, and it’s an important message to get out, Sanders told BLACK ENTERPRISE of his partnership with Amgen. “It’s obviously something that’s very near and dear to my heart, so to speak. And so, you know, now is the right time.”

A Near-Fatal Wake-up Call on Father’s Day

It was Father’s Day 2024. Barry had woken up with a “slight burning feeling” in his chest. He shrugged it off as heartburn.

He got up to pace around the room, thinking he could walk it off. As the symptoms persisted throughout the day, he drove himself to the emergency room, where doctors began performing tests.

“And that’s when they realized actually what it was that, you know, when the doctor said ‘heart attack’…. I just could not believe those words, you know, just because I thought I was in pretty good shape, that I was doing a lot of things right, you know, and so that was a big surprise to me.”

The wake-up call was surprising to the father of four sons, who was—and still is—known for dodging players much larger than he was on the football field as a legendary running back with the Detroit Lions. His doctors have since put him on a plan to lower his cholesterol and maintain an active, healthy lifestyle.

He teamed up with Amgen-–one of the world’s largest biopharmaceutical companies—as a spokesperson, and to serve in a leading role in a documentary called “The Making of a Heart Attack,” which follows the story of five individuals—including Sanders–in their own unique story and battle with heart attack and stroke.

The common thread for all five? “I don’t think any of us had the initial thought that we were having a heart attack,” Sanders said. “We didn’t realize that that’s actually what was taking place. And that’s the thing that’s kind of crazy; it’s not uncommon.”

Risk Factors for Heart Attack and Stroke

According to the American Heart Association, high cholesterol usually has no symptoms. LDL cholesterol is often called “bad” cholesterol, because it can build up in your arteries and narrow them over time; thus, increasing your risk for heart attack and stroke. Amgen states that “more than 40% of adults in the U.S. with high LDL-C don’t know their levels are elevated.^”

Tara Robinson, CEO of the Black Heart Association, is featured in the documentary “The Making of a Heart Attack.” She spoke with BLACK ENTERPRISE in 2024 about suffering three heart attacks in one week at age 40.

“That led me to start advocating and volunteering and that led me to start my own nonprofit when I saw that the gap was not being filled; that we needed to have up close and personal relationships with our community on our health,” Robinson said of The Black Heart Association, a nonprofit co-founded with her husband, Fredrick, focused on the overall improvement of health outcomes in communities of color.

An alarming statistic from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation states that Black women suffer from higher rates of heart disease, coronary disease, and stroke deaths in comparison to white women in the United States. Robinson knows this all too well.

“I’m the strong Black woman,” Robinson told BLACK ENTERPRISE. “I think I’m the poster child for it. That’s definitely part of why I had my heart attacks because I internalized stress so much.”

Stress is a risk factor—Sanders noted—in addition to diet, heredity, and LDL-C; thus, he urges the need to have regular check-ups with your doctor.

Life-saving Advice from a Lions Legend

Even after his abrupt retirement from the NFL in 1999, Sanders chose to stay in the Motor City, where he says “there’s so much development and activity and positive things going on around the city of Detroit,” that he’s excited to still live there and be involved in various business ventures.

Sanders currently has matters of the heart at the top of his mind, but he’s a lifetime football fan as well as an undisputable legend. So, when it comes to the Lions having a chance at competing in the Super Bowl? He’s optimistic.

“Absolutely, I think we still have a great nucleus of players that are in their prime. And you look at how tight that division race was last year with all the teams, you know, having nine wins and the (Chicago) Bears having 11 wins in our division. There’s so much great parity in our division, but also just around the whole league. And I think that we’re still close. I think we still have the players needed,” he told BLACK ENTERPRISE. “I don’t think there are very many teams in the NFC that are better than the Lions. And so, to answer your question, I absolutely believe that the Detroit Lions have a playoff and Super Bowl push in them. No question.”

So, whether you’re rooting for the Lions, the Carolina Panthers, or you’re a part of the Buffalo Bills Mafia, Sanders’s advice holds true across the board for all Americans:

“My message is just being proactive; that everyone out there is important to someone and that this is an extremely important health conversation to have,” he said. “We want to make room for heart attack and stroke conversations with doctors and lowering that bad cholesterol.”

Learn more about this topic and find resources to test your LDL-C at  https://www.attackheartdisease.com/documentary. Also, catch Sanders in a special interview with BLACK ENTERPRISE on March 24 at Noon ET on BLACK ENTERPRISE’s streaming platforms.

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