NFL Hall-of-Famer Barry Sanders was just about the perfect running back, but even being blessed with freakish agility and near-omnipotent field vision couldn’t save his marriage.
The former Detroit Lion originally filed for divorce from Lauren Sanders — his ex-wife — back in 2012, and, on Tuesday, he decided to pen a column on his blog about one of the ugliest parts of any spousal separation: the custody battle.
Though Barry and his ex-wife were able to reach a friendly agreement concerning their three sons, Sanders is still extremely worried that the current custody laws are outdated and unfairly favor mothers over fathers:
Like most fathers out there, my children are the most important aspect of my life. That is why when I went through a divorce several years ago, I was very worried about how the transition and change of ending my marriage would affect the daily lives of my kids, as well as what my role in their lives would be moving forward…
I reiterated this as my top priority to my attorney and was lucky that my ex-wife agreed. We were both able to realize the importance of limiting the disruption to our children’s lives, which made things much easier for us when it came to agreeing on a fair custody arrangement…
Despite that fact that men now often play a major role in raising children, many of the laws dealing with divorce were written in a time when mothers were the primary caregiver. Because of this, even great fathers can run into issues in the family courts when it comes to getting a fair parenting plan after the divorce…
It doesn’t matter who you are, all men will face uncertainties about what the future will hold when it comes to their kids after the divorce is finalized. It is up to you to continue fighting for your rights.
You can read the entire post on Sanders’ blog.