At first I assumed this was an acrostic, but WATTH didn't mean anything to me. I spent a bit longer trying to find the code, and I think I cracked it.

When the 1998 season came to a close, Barry Sanders had rushed for 15,269 yards in his career. At the time, Walter Payton held the record for career rushing yards with 16,726. Sanders average season consisted of 1,527 yards, meaning that one average season at his standard of play would have put him at 16,796 yards, enough to give him the all time rushing record. Two years prior to the 98 season, he had signed a 6-year contract extension for $35.4 million with an $11 mil signing bonus (seems like chump change now for a player of his caliber but keep in mind the salary cap in 1996 was $40.753 million) that would keep him under contract with Detroit through the 2002 NFL season. The running back was beginning to age, but his athletic ability was still unmatched, rushing for 1,491 yards in 1998. However, with only one postseason victory under his belt throughout the full decade that he had been an NFL player, he was so tired of the lack of success in Detroit that instead of aiming for the possibility of being remembered as the greatest running back to ever live, he retired.