Deion Sanders

Coach and former professional athlete

• Born: August 9, 1967
• Birthplace: Fort Myers, Florida

Athlete and entertainer

Sanders was one of the most dominant and decorated players in the history of the National Football League (NFL) and also played nine seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Few athletes can succeed at two sports—especially at the highest level of competition—yet Sanders had the talent, dedication, and confidence to do so. Besides athletics, Sanders also was involved in music, reality television, sports commentary, and religion.

Areas of achievement: Sports: baseball; Sports: football

Early Life

Deion Luwynn Sanders was born in Fort Myers, Florida, on August 9, 1967, to Connie Knight and Mims Sanders. Mims became addicted to drugs and left the family when Sanders was very young. Connie later remarried. Sanders grew up in a poor neighborhood rife with drugs and violence. At the age of eight, he joined a Pop Warner football league and a Little League baseball team and immediately excelled at both sports.

Sports helped keep Sanders from falling prey to the dangers of the streets. At North Fort Myers High School, he earned all-state honors in basketball, baseball, and football. He was nicknamed “Prime Time” by a high school friend; the Prime Time persona became his alter ego throughout his career.

During Sanders’s senior year in high school, he was flooded with scholarship offers for all three sports. He chose Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee, mostly because it offered the opportunity to play for legendary coaches Bobby Bowden in football and Mike Martin for baseball.

In high school, Sanders had been a mobile or “option” quarterback, but in college, he switched to defense and special teams. Sanders wanted to stand out: He arrived at FSU in a car with “Prime Time” on the license plate. He also had the skills to back up the swagger.

Sanders helped lead the FSU Seminoles’ baseball team to the 1987 College World Series, where they finished fifth. He also was instrumental in helping the football team reach the number-two ranking in the country that same year, winning the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s best defensive back. He was a two-time All-American, scored six touchdowns on punt or interception returns, and was arguably the fastest player in the country. His speed also was on display on the Seminoles’ track team.

Life’s Work

Sanders signed with the New York Yankees in 1988 to play professional baseball and made his debut in June 1989. Two months earlier, the Atlanta Falcons had selected him fifth overall in the 1989 National Football League (NFL) draft. The Falcons offered Sanders a $400,000 contract; Sanders countered with $11 million. While Sanders used his baseball career as leverage, he and the Falcons battled over his contract all summer before settling on a $4.4 million deal.

Sanders hit a home run in his last game of the season for the Yankees in September 1989. The next day, he returned a punt for a touchdown in his NFL debut with the Falcons. Sanders was the first athlete in history to hit a home run and score a touchdown in the same week. He was an immediate star in the NFL. Sanders played the cornerback position so well and so aggressively that opposing teams drew up their game plans to avoid him. He made the first of eight Pro Bowl appearances in 1991.

Sanders played baseball for nine years, mostly part time. He signed with the Atlanta Braves in 1991. In 1992, he played a full season of baseball while still playing football for the Falcons. His full-time commitment to baseball yielded his best statistics ever, including a .304 regular-season batting average and a .533 average in the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Despite his heroics, though, the Braves lost the World Series. In 1993, Sanders returned to his previous routine of playing baseball until the start of the football season. He performed well at both sports.

In 1994, the Braves traded Sanders to the Cincinnati Reds. That year, he also was a free agent in football. He signed with the San Francisco 49ers and helped the team win the Super Bowl. He was named NFL defensive player of the year in 1994.

Sanders leveraged his incredible 1994 season to score a seven-year, thirty-five-million-dollar contract with the Dallas Cowboys, at the time the largest contract ever given to a defensive player. He then helped lead the Cowboys to a Super Bowl victory in 1995. In baseball, he was traded from Cincinnati to the San Francisco Giants, where he had a solid season.

Sanders sat out the 1996 baseball season and played both cornerback and wide receiver for the Cowboys, making him the first legitimate two-way NFL player in thirty-five years. Sanders returned to Cincinnati to play baseball in 1997, retired, then returned for the 2001 season before finally retiring permanently from baseball.

In 1997, while going through a difficult divorce, Sanders embraced religion. He began to use his wealth and celebrity to mentor fellow players and youths. His conversion also marked the unofficial end of the Prime Time persona.

In 2000, Sanders signed a seven-year, fifty-six-million-dollar football contract with Washington, but he played only one season before retiring. He then worked for CBS as a television analyst for two seasons. He made a brief comeback with the Baltimore Ravens in 2004, but injuries shortened his return. Sanders retired from football in 2006 and joined the NFL Network as an analyst. He later also made appearances on reality television and other programs.

Over the years Sanders earned many honors and recognitions for his unique and accomplished career. The Falcons inducted him into their Ring of Honor in 2010, and the following year he was inducted into both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame. Sanders also moved into football coaching, cofounding the Prime Prep Academy charter school program in 2012. However, the school was plagued by scandal and financial issues and closed in 2015. Sanders later coached at the school his sons attended, Trinity Christian School in Cedar Hill, Texas, from 2017 to 2020. He then became the head coach at Mississippi's Jackson State University in 2020. Remaining with Jackson State for only a short time, he still managed to coach the team to two Southwestern Athletic Conference championship competitions as well as the institution's first undefeated season. In late 2022, he entered into a contract, reportedly totaling almost $30 million, to serve as the University of Colorado's head football coach. While his achievements continued to be acknowledged, some commentators criticized his decision to leave and therefore withdraw beneficial support from Jackson State, a historically Black university.

Sanders married Pilar Biggers in 1999. They had three children and divorced in 2015. Sanders also had two children by his former wife, Carolyn Chambers.

Significance

Sanders was an above-average professional baseball player and a Hall of Fame-caliber football player, making him a unique figure in the sports world. He ranks among the best cornerbacks of all time and was a scoring threat whenever he was on the field. Sanders also was well known for his flamboyance, and his boastful attitude made him a polarizing figure. However, his talent was undeniable. He was the first player in NFL history to score a touchdown six different ways: reception, rush, punt return, kickoff return, interception return, and fumble return. He also was the first person in professional sports history to play in both the Super Bowl and the World Series.

Bibliography

"Deion Sanders." Baseball Reference, www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sandede02.shtml. Accessed 18 Oct. 2023.

"Deion Sanders." Pro Football Hall of Fame, www.profootballhof.com/players/deion-sanders/. Accessed 18 Oct. 2023.

"Deion Sanders." Pro Football Reference, www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SandDe00.htm. Accessed 18 Oct. 2023.

"Jackson State Announces Deion Sanders As Its Next Head Football Coach." ESPN, 21 Sept. 2021, www.espn.com/college-football/story/‗/id/29934894/deion-sanders-announces-jackson-state-next-head-football-coach. Accessed 21 July 2021.

Hill, Jemele. "Deion Sanders’s Disappointing Exit." The Atlantic, 8 Dec. 2022, www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/12/deion-sanders-head-football-coach-jackson-state-departure-hbcu-impact/672396/. Accessed 18 Oct. 2023.

Macnow, Glen. Sports Great Deion Sanders. Springfield: Enslow, 1999. Print.

Rand, Jonathan. “Prime Time: Deion Sanders.” Three Hundred Pounds of Attitude: The Wildest Stories and Craziest Characters the NFL Has Ever Seen. Guilford: Lyons, 2006. Print.

Sanders, Deion. Power, Money, and Sex: How Success Almost Ruined My Life. Nashville: Word Publishing, 1999. Print.

Wagner, Tony. "When Celebrities Get Behind Schools." Market Place. American Public Media, 30 Mar. 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.

"Why Deion Sanders Was Cowboys' Best Free Agent Signing of All-Time." Dallas News. N.p., 8 Mar. 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.