GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The alternate uniforms had not arrived yet for Dalton Junior High School in Georgia, so Jahmyr Gibbs had to make a quick decision ahead of the first game.
He chose No. 20, in honor of Detroit Lions great Barry Sanders, whom he had recently started studying through YouTube clips.
Born on March 20, 2002, Gibbs wasn't alive when Sanders etched his name among Detroit sports royalty while dazzling fans from 1989 to 1998 with his elusive style, but on Sunday, Gibbs left his own mark.
He passed Sanders for the most NFL touchdowns (58) before turning 25 to help the Lions beat the Arizona Cardinals 45-21.
"Impressive. It's very cool that it's Barry's record, too. He's got a lot of comparisons there," Lions quarterback Jared Goff said of Gibbs. "But he's unbelievable. He really is. We did a good job in the run game and still probably didn't do as well as we could, and he made a lot of guys miss in the backfield."