Blue collar is more Houston Texans Home Office than a tagline in Detroit.It's a mindset, an ethos tied to the Motor City's identity from the factories to the recording studios. After all, the 1978 movie "Blue Collar," starring Richard Pryor and Harvey Keitel is set in Detroit. In sports, to be labeled "blue collar" is not a five-cent cliche. It is the full-day compliment for athletes who personify that mindset for the Lions, Tigers, Red Wings and Pistons."The national perception is that Detroit is not an emerald city," Bally Sports Detroit's Johnny Kane told The Sporting News. "There is a blue-collar, tough-minded, work-for-what-you-get-mentality, and that carries over to the fan bases."MORE: SN's Mount Rushmore picks for Detroit are blue-collar picks, but it's more than that. Gordie Howe, Al Kaline, Isaiah Thomas and Barry Sanders combined for 70 profe sional seasons with Detroit sports teams. Loyalty matters, too."It's not like Detroit is a destination for a lot of athletes," Detroit News columnist Bob Wojnowski told TSN. "So the ones that come here they stay and become legends. They are welcome here because they personify things. What are those? Toughne s and an edge certainly, but also I think respectfulne s."Detroit also holds on to those legends who stick around when their playing careers are over. Three of our four selections made Detroit their permanent destination. That's a difference-maker, too."That's kind of part and parcel of Detroit," Detroit Free-Pre s columnist Mitch Albom told TSN. "If you're representing Detroit, you want to be of Detroit, you want to be in Detroit and you want to be around Detroit. I think we like people more if we can see them outside of the stadium as much as inside it." Gordie Howe played 1,687 games with the Red Wings and remains the franchise's all-time leader with 1,809 points. Wojnowski still did not fully comprehend what the Red Wings right wing meant to the game until Howe died. Wojnowski attended Howe's funeral at the Cathedral of the Most Ble sed Sacrament in Detroit on June 15, 2016."I was amazed just at how many average hockey fans had personal stories with him," Zach Cunningham Jersey Wojnowski said. "He would show up after retirement, which took a long time, at local rinks and have a game with them. He couldn't have been nicer and couldn't have been friendlier. It was the amount of tears I saw from people who met him maybe once."Howe endeared himself to hockey fans with the "Howe hat trick," which was a goal, an a sist and a fight in the same game. He was a "Hockeytown" hero as part of Stanley Cup championship teams in 1950, 1952, 1954 and 1955. He played for 25 more seasons in the NHL after that and still wasn't done."He couldn't get hockey out of his blood," Wojnowski said. "He wasn't the fastest skater. No, he didn't have the best hands or best wrist shot, but he was the ultimate power hockey player."As far as Red Wings legends go, the "Gordie Howe or Steve Yzerman" debate continues to this day. Yzerman played 22 years in Detroit, won three Stanley Cups as a player and now is back as the general manager. Yet Albom rewinds to a moment in the Red Wings' locker room during Yzerman's rookie season. Albom let Yzerman know that Howe was in the room, too. Yzerman acknowledged but didn't move."Well, go say hello to him," Albom prodded. "Don't you want to talk to him?""Oh, you can't just go up and talk to Gordie Howe," Yzerman responded."That kind of tells you about the two of them," Albom said. "That's how hockey players are. In other sports, the more you brag in a particular sport, the higher profile you get. In hockey, the better you are the quieter you are supposed to be. Look at Wayne Gretzky. Look at Steve Yzerman. Look at Joe Davis Mills Jersey Sakic. They're all like that. Gordie personified that, but he was also tough as nails."That toughne s defined Howe. He might have a few teeth mi sing. He might have a black eye or stitches over his nose. Howe played through it. That career started in post-World War II America in 1947 and ended with the Detroit Vipers of the International Hockey League in 1997. Howe took his final shift when he was 69 years old."He was talented but he could also beat the hell out of you," Albom said. "He was an elder statesman for a long time and he remained with the Red Wings. He was a fixture at Joe Louis Arena long after his hair had turned white."Howe By The NumbersStanley Cup championships4All-Star appearances21Hart Trophies (regular-season MVP)6Ro s Trophies (points leader)6TSN ARCHIVES: On Nov. 13, 1994, Barry Sanders rushed for a Lions franchise record 237 yards against the Buccaneers, and a hoard of reporters waited by his locker. That's when Albom noticed Sanders' personal belongings were gone. So Albom slipped out a side door into the parking lot outside the Pontiac Silverdome, and thats when he saw Sanders walking up a hill M.J. Stewart Jersey .Albom rushed up to Sanders and asked him a question: "You know there is like a mob of people waiting for you at your locker, right?""Really? Why?" Sanders replied.Then Albom informed Sanders of the rushing total."He looked at me and said, 'Hmmm,'" Albom said. "That was that. That was Barry's biggest quote 'Hmmm.' That was Barry. Most things you would point out to him you thought were spectacular and he would say, 'Hmmm.' Then he would go on."If I were explaining it to young people who didn't see him, I would say that he was one of those rare athletes that made you blink," Albom said. "Like, you weren't sure you saw what you just saw. He just kind of moved like a waterbug. If you ever watch a waterbug, you're like, 'Wait, how do they do that?' That's what Barry was like."Sanders is the most exotic running back in NFL history. He bounced around Desmond King II Jersey tacklers with a style that still makes for must-watch viral videos acro s all social media platforms. For those who grew up in the 1990s, Sanders was the first Madden cheat code. When asked how many of his friends are Lions fans because of Barry Sanders, Kane simply said, "All of them."Wojnowski pointed to the run against New England on Sept. 25, 1994, when Sanders turned Patriots safety Harlon Barnett completely around before scoring as one of those don't-blink moments."Most great Barry Sanders runs began with him having nothing," Wojnowski said. "'Oh, he's trapped behind the line of scrimmage. That's going to be nothing or a three-yard lo s.' Then there's a jab step and a spin, another jab step and a spin and then there's the speed and there he goes."Sanders played 10 seasons in Detroit, and he compiled 15,269 yards, which still ranks third all time. In 1997, he became the third running back to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season.That sequence also was quinte sential Sanders. He hit 2,000 yards on the mark , then shook the official's hand and pointed to the crowd."On the next play he ripped off a 53-yard run and the old Silverdome was going bonkers," Wojnowski sai