Deion Sanders
Encyclopedia : D : DE : DEI : Deion Sanders
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| Position: | Cornerback |
| College: | Florida State University |
| NFL draft: | 1989, 1st round, 5th overall, Atlanta Falcons |
| NFL career: | 14 seasons |
| MLB draft: | 1988 amateur entry draft, 30th round, 781st overall, New York Yankees |
| MLB career: | 9 seasons |
| Hall of Fames: | Florida Sports Hall of Fame; Florida State University Athletics Hall of Fame |
| Awards/Honors: | Jim Thorpe Award - 1988, First Team All-America - 1987, 1988 Third Team All-America - 1986 Florida State No. 2 jersey retired - 1995 NFL All-Pro - 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999 NFL Defensive Player of the Year - 1994 |
Sanders, also known as Neon Deion and Prime Time, is considered one of the greatest and most versatile athletes in recent American sports history, much like Bo Jackson. In football, he is considered to be one of, if not the greatest cover cornerback of all time.
College career
Sanders was a star in three sports for the Florida State Seminoles, participating in football, baseball, and track. Beginning his freshman year, when he started in the Seminoles secondary, played outfield for the baseball team that finished fifth in the nation, and helped lead the track and field team to a conference championship, it was clear that Sanders was an exceptional athlete on a national level.At Florida State, under head coach Bobby Bowden, Sanders was a two time consensus All-American cornerback in 1987 and 1988, and a third team All-American in 1986, intercepting 14 passes in his career, including three in bowl games, and managed to return one interception 100 yards for a touchdown. He won the Jim Thorpe Award in 1988 and is widely considered to be the best cornerback to ever play college football. He was also a punt returner for Florida State, leading the nation in 1988 with his punt return average, and breaking the school's record for career punt return yards. His jersey at Florida State, #2, was retired in 1995.
While at North Fort Myers High School, Sanders was drafted by the MLB Kansas City Royals, and was later drafted while in college by the MLB New York Yankees. While playing under head coach Mike Martin, at Florida State, Sanders hit .331 in 1986, although he was known more for incredible abilities at base stealing and versatile range of outfielder positions than anything else, stealing 27 bases in 1987.
Sanders also ran track during his years at Florida State. On one occasion, Sanders played the first game of a baseball double-header, ran a leg of a 4X100 relay, then returned to play another baseball game.
MLB career
In his nine-year, part-time baseball career, Sanders played 641 games with 4 teams. During his most productive year, 1992, he hit .304 for the Braves, and stole 26 bases in 97 games. During the 1989 season, he hit a home run and scored a touchdown in the NFL in the same week, the first player to do so. Sanders is the only man to have played in a MLB and NFL game during the same day, and is also the only player to play in both a Super Bowl and World Series.MLB teams
- New York Yankees: 1989-1990
- Atlanta Braves: 1991-1993
- Cincinnati Reds: 1994-1995, 1997, 2001
- San Francisco Giants: 1995
- Toronto Blue Jays (Minor League)
NFL career
Deion Sanders's professional football career started the same year as his baseball career, 1989. He was the fifth pick of the first round in the 1989 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons, where he played until 1993. During his time there, he intercepted 24 passes, three for touchdowns. Although his tackling was poor and his covering technique was unorthodox, his blanketed shadow of a receiver aided by his blinding speed and athleticism more than compensated at one of the NFL's toughest positions. He was timed in the 40-yard dash at 4.17 seconds by NFL scouts[link] and 4.23 seconds at the NFL combine[link]. As a result of this, Sanders was completely respected in the defensive secondary and offensive coordinators and opposing teams were forced to alter their game plans accordingly. Over the course of his NFL career, Sanders was selected to 8 Pro Bowls in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999. He was also awarded the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1994.He played one season with the San Francisco 49ers, where he recorded an interception in the 49ers 49-26 Super Bowl XXIX win, and went on to win Super Bowl XXX with the Dallas Cowboys, where he returned a punt for 11 yards and caught a 47-yard reception on offense, setting up Dallas' first touchdown of the game and a 27-17 victory. He is the only player to catch a pass and make an interception in the Super Bowl. After 5 seasons with the Cowboys, he later was acquired by the Washington Redskins and played one season before retiring in 2001. After three seasons away from football, he would later come back to play for the Baltimore Ravens in 2004 and 2005.
During his 14-year career, the All-Pro Deion Sanders was one of the most feared pass defenders to ever play the game. He was so versatile, that he was a threat to score every time he touched the football. He intercepted 53 passes for 1331 yards (a 25.1 yards per return average), recovered 4 fumbles for 15 yards, returned 155 kickoffs for 3,523 yards, gained 2,199 yards on 212 punt returns, and even caught 60 passes for 784 yards. Sanders scored 21 touchdowns: 8 interception returns, 6 punt returns, 3 kickoff returns, 3 receiving, and 1 fumble recovery. His 19 defensive and return touchdowns are an NFL record.
Deion was occasionally used as a wide receiver at times appearing as nothing more than a decoy, his speed kept opposing defenses honest and fully aware of the deep threat down field. One of the few successful two-way players of the modern NFL, Sanders became a full time two-way starter in 1996 for the first half of the season due to Michael Irvin serving a four game suspension. Deion will mostly be remembered sporting his famous "do-rag" and for his "High-Stepping" into the endzone followed by his excessive touchdown dance celebrations. At the sametime Sanders will also be remembered for his alternate ego, Prime Time. A marketing ploy every bit as much as a different personality. Deion felt he deserved bigger contracts in the same range as NFL quarterbacks and he used Prime Time to his every advantage to get this. At one point, he was the highest paid defensive player in the league when he was lured away from the San Francisco 49ers to sign a 7 year, 35 million dollar contract with the Dallas Cowboys (it was essentially 5 years, but was given a 7 year length for an easier cap hit and the signing bonus was 12.99 million, .01 cent under 13.0 million due to superstition by Jerry Jones.) As he took on the Prime Time persona, he was easily one of the most visible and outspoken football player to ever take the field. Even though he was widely known as a loud, egotistical, flashy prima donna, and scorned for his infrequent tackling, Sanders' ability to shut down one side of the field and an opponents number one receiver could not be denied. Off the field, Deion was known for being a quiet, reserved individual who was surprisingly a good teammate and avid student of the game. A complete polar opposite of his more popular alter ego. He was widely known as the first "shutdown" Corner and was or will be the standard to which all other Cornerbacks will be measured.
First retirement and comeback
After retiring from the NFL, Sanders worked as a sports pre-game commentator for CBS' The NFL Today until 2004, when contract negotiations failed. He was replaced by Shannon Sharpe.Sanders frequently made guest appearances on ESPN, especially on the ESPN Radio Dallas affiliate, and briefly hosted a show called The New American Sportsman. He also hosted the 2002 Miss America pageant. Sanders has been married twice and has two children.
In January 2004, Sanders was hired as an assistant coach to the Dallas Fury, a women's professional basketball team in the National Women's Basketball League, even though Sanders had never played organized basketball either in college or the professional level.
In 2004, lured back to football by Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, Sanders announced that he was going to end his retirement. He signed with the Baltimore Ravens to be a nickelback. Sanders chose to wear the number 37, which matched his age at the time, to preemptively let people know that he was well aware of his relatively old age for an NFL player (The number 21 was used by him throughout his entire career, but was already in use on the Ravens by Chris McAlister). On October 24, Sanders scored his ninth career touchdown on an interception return against the Buffalo Bills, moving him into a tie for second place behind Rod Woodson (12) all-time in that category. Sanders is one of a handful of NFL players in skill positions to play after the age of 35.
In 2005, Sanders signed a 1-year deal with the Ravens reportedly worth $1.5 million.
On September 2nd, 2005, in response to the terrible after-effects of Hurricane Katrina, Sanders challenged all professional athletes in the four major sports to donate $1,000 each to relief efforts, hoping to raise between $1.5 to $3 million total. Sanders said "Through unity, we can touch thousands...I have friends and relatives that feel this pain. Help in any way you can."
In January 2006, Deion Sanders once again, retired from the game of football.
Deion has adopted a high school running back, Noel Devine, who is one of the top recruits in 2007. Deion was advised to and said, "He doesn't have parents; they died. God put this young man in my heart. This is not about sports. This is about a kid's life."
- College Football News named Sanders #8 in its list of 100 Greatest College Football Players of All-Time.
- The Sporting News named Sanders #37 in their Top 100 Football Players of the Century released in 1999.
- ESPN named Sanders #74 in its list of the 100 Great Athletes of the Century released in 1999.
NFL teams
- Atlanta Falcons: 1989-1993
- San Francisco 49ers: 1994
- Dallas Cowboys: 1995-1999
- Washington Redskins: 2000
- Baltimore Ravens: 2004-2005
Trivia
Sanders, known for his custom-made showy suits and flashy jewelry, frequently capitalized on his image. On December 26, 1994 Sanders released Prime Time, a rap album on Bust It Records that featured the minor hit "Must Be The Money." "Prime Time Keeps on Tickin'" was also released as a single. He also appeared in MC Hammer's "Too Legit to Quit" music video.During his spectacular 1994 season with San Francisco, Deion bought himself a black Lamborghini Diablo stating "A present from me, to me." Later it was revealed in his book, that both Superbowl victories with San Francisco and Dallas along with the Lamborghini still made him feel "empty".
Following his first Super Bowl victory with the San Francisco 49ers, he was the host of Saturday Night Live, broadcast on February 18, 1995.
He endorsed his own video game for the Sega Genesis console entitled Prime Time football.
He has been in numerous television commercials, most notably as the Road Runner in a Pepsi ad and in a Pizza Hut commercial where he responds to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones questions with "both!!".
He made a brief cameo appearance on the TV show Living Single and as a potential kidnap victim at the end of the movie Celtic Pride.
Sanders also was co-host of the 2004 GMA Music Awards broadcast, taped in late April 2004, slated for an airing on UPN in May 2004. When negotiations for fellow Viacom propery CBS failed (see above) two weeks before the broadcast, and he signed a deal with ESPN, UPN promptly cancelled the broadcast, and the show aired on the i Network in December 2004 (both UPN and CBS are now owned by CBS Corporation).
Semi-Retirement
In April 2006, Sanders became an owner of the Austin Wranglers, an Arena Football League team[link].References
Deion Sanders with J.M. Black. Power, Money & Sex: How Success Almost Ruined My Life. World Publishing 1998.External links
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