The intent was to make a play for his team, not injure anyone. Say what you want, but you can't expect any player, no matter who they are, to let up or take it easy on their opponent. Hard hits can serve many purposes. In this case it was to get his ballcarrier a couple of extra yards by taking out a potential tackler. I am just in shock that there are football fans out there that'll actually want a player to let up because a play might.
I want to say that it was Barry Sanders intent to tear opposing defenders ACLs by making sick moves to prevent them from tackling him. Time to grow a set people. This is professional football.