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Deion Sanders

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Deion Sanders
No. 21, 37
Position:Cornerback
Career information
College:Florida State
NFL draft:1989 / round: 1 / pick: 5
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Deion Luwynn Sanders (born August 9, 1967 in Fort Myers, Florida) is a former National Football League cornerback, Major League Baseball outfielder, and CBS Sports commentator.

In the National Football League, he played for the Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins and Baltimore Ravens, winning the Super Bowl with the 49ers and Cowboys, respectively. In Major League Baseball, he played for the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants. Collegiately, he attended Florida State University, where he excelled in both football and baseball.

In April of 2006 he became a partial owner of the Austin Wranglers, an Arena Football League team based in Austin, TX[1]. Sanders also works for the NFL Network, appearing on the Sunday night highlights show NFL GameDay.

Sanders, also known as Neon Deion and Prime Time, is considered one of the greatest and most versatile athletes in recent American sports history. In football, he is considered to be one of the best, if not the best, cover cornerbacks of all time. He was also a 7 time All-Pro selection.

High school years

Sanders attended North Fort Myers High School in Fort Myers, Florida, and was a letterman in football, basketball, and baseball. He was an All-State honoree in all three sports.

College career

Sanders was a star in three sports for the Florida State Seminoles, participating in football, baseball, and track. Beginning his freshman year, 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 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 one of the best cornerbacks 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. Sanders helped seal the 1988 Sugar Bowl for the Seminoles by picking off an Auburn pass in the last seconds.

While playing baseball under head coach Mike Martin, at Florida State, Sanders hit .331 in 1986; he was known more for base stealing, swiping 27 bags in 1987. Sanders would go on to be drafted while in college by the New York Yankees (He also was selected by the Kansas City Royals out of North Fort Myers High School, though he did not sign.)

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

Template:Mlbretired Deion Sanders played a nine-year, part-time baseball career, playing 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 play in both a Super Bowl and World Series.

In four games of the 1992 World Series, Sanders batted .533 with 4 runs, 8 hits, 2 doubles, and 1 RBI while playing with a broken bone in his foot. Despite Sanders' great performance, he and his Braves ultimately lost to the Toronto Blue Jays in six games.

NFL career

Atlanta Falcons

Deion Sanders's professional football career started the same year as his baseball career, 1989. He was the fifth pick overall in the 1989 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons, where he played until 1993. During his time there, he intercepted 24 passes (including a career high 7 in 1993), three of which he returned for touchdowns. In 1992, he also led the league in kickoff return yards (1,067), yards per return (26.7) and return touchdowns (2). Over his five years with the Falcons, Sanders found his way to the endzone ten times (3 defensive, 3 kick returns, 2 punt returns & 2 receptions). During his stay in Atlanta, Sanders claimed that the Georgia Dome was his own house.[1]

San Francisco 49ers

After five seasons of feeling like the only bright star in Atlanta and yearning for a Super Bowl championship, Deion signed on to play one season with the San Francisco 49ers, where he had arguably his best season as a professional football player, recording 6 interceptions and returning them for an NFL best 303 yards and 3 touchdowns. One of the interceptions returned for a touchdown came against his former team in the Georgia Dome. After getting into a scuffle with his former friend Andre Rison, Sanders intercepted a pass from quarterback Jeff George and proceeded to return it for a score while mockingly staring down at the entire Falcons sideline before high-stepping into the end zone. Sanders was voted the 1994 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and recorded an interception in the 49ers 49-26 win over the San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX. After the season, Jerry Rice and Sanders publicly feuded - Rice fumed at the idea that the media felt Sanders was the missing link to the 49ers Super Bowl run and that it was not giving credit to the other 52 men in the locker room. This ultimately resulted in Sanders feeling unappreciated by the 49ers organization and he opted to leave the team.

Dallas Cowboys

After his public dispute with Jerry Rice and not feeling valued with 49ers, Deion with his agent Eugene Parker, proceeded to court numerous teams in need of an All-Pro cornerback. Several teams in the "Deion sweepstakes" as it was coined by the media that year, were the Philadelphia Eagles, Oakland Raiders, Miami Dolphins, and the Dallas Cowboys who ironically lost their starting cornerback Kevin Smith to injury for the rest of the season. On September 9, 1995, Deion Sanders signed a lucrative contract with the Dallas Cowboys (7 years, $35 million dollars with a $12.99 million dollar signing bonus), essentially making him at the time, the highest paid defensive player in the NFL. Sanders later stated in his book that the Oakland Raiders offered him more money than any other team, but he chose Dallas because of his friendship with Cowboys' wide receiver Michael Irvin, a chance to win back-to-back Super Bowls, and more time on the offensive side of the ball as a wide receiver. Arthroscopic surgery kept him sidelined until his debut in Week 9 once again against the Atlanta Falcons, only this time, Sanders debut with his new team was not as dramatic as it was the 49ers. He later went on to help the Cowboys win their third Super Bowl title in four years with a win in Super Bowl XXX against the Pittsburgh Steelers, 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 in NFL history to catch a pass and make an interception in the Super Bowl. At the trophy presentation, Sanders stated, "I didn't even get to hold the trophy last year" in regards to his previous employer in San Francisco. Sanders proceeded to play 4 more seasons with Dallas earning Pro Bowl berths in all of them, although the Cowboys only won one playoff game (1996 against the Minnesota Vikings) in that time.

Washington Redskins

After 5 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, he later was courted by new Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder along with other high priced free agents Mark Carrier and Bruce Smith. Deion played one season with the Redskins, having 4 interceptions with the Redskins, before surprisingly retiring in 2001.

Baltimore Ravens

In 2004, lured back to football by Ravens cornerback Corey Fuller and linebacker Ray Lewis, Sanders announced that he was going to end his retirement. He signed a 1-year deal reportedly worth $1.5 million 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 relative senior status for an NFL player (additionally, the number 21 used by Sanders throughout his career, 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. He finished with 5 interceptions for the Ravens.

In January 2006, Sanders once again retired from the NFL, becoming an analyst for the NFL Network.

Legacy

During his 14-year NFL career, Deion Sanders was a perennial All-Pro and one of the most feared pass defenders to ever play the game. At the height of his career, his reputation was so great that opposing offensive coordinators almost always specifically accounted for him in their game-plan. He was widely known to shut down "his" half of the field, causing most quarterbacks to essentially ignore the receiver he was covering. Although critics argued that his tackling was poor and he was not much of a factor in run support, they could not deny that his unparalleled closing speed (evidenced by his 4.19 second 40 yard dash and his 4.6 second backwards 40 yard dash] time[2]) Sanders' speed and athleticism enabled him to blanket the best receivers while playing one of football's toughest positions. He was once quoted as saying, " You show me a corner that can tackle, and I'll show you one that can't cover"[citation needed].

Sanders also occasionally lined up with his team's offense, returned kicks, and played wide receiver. During the 1996 season, Sanders skipped the baseball season by concentrating strictly on football and attended the first NFL training camp of his career to better familiarize himself with the nuances of the wide receiver position. He became the first two-way starter in the NFL since Chuck Bednarik for the first half of the season due to Michael Irvin serving a five game suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy.

Through his career, Sanders intercepted 52 passes for 1,331 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 caught 60 passes for 784 yards. Sanders amassed 7,838 all-purpose yards and scored 22 touchdowns: 9 interception returns, 6 punt returns, 3 kickoff returns, 3 receiving, and 1 fumble recovery. His 19 defensive and return touchdowns are an NFL record. He was selected to eight 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.

  • 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.

Sanders also had a rushing TD in the playoffs (against the Philadelphia Eagles in January 1996). This makes him (including post season) the only player in NFL history to score a touchdown 6 different ways (i.e. interception return, punt return, kickoff return, receiving, rushing, and a fumble recovery).

"Prime Time" persona

Sanders 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 same time Sanders will also be remembered for his alternate ego, Prime Time. The moniker was given to him by Florida Gators defensive back Richard Fain, a friend and high school teammate of Sanders in Fort Myers. The two played pickup basketball games together during the prime-time television hour, and Sanders' athletic display during those games won him that title. At Florida State, the name became a marketing ploy every bit as much as an alternate personality. Once in the NFL, Sanders felt he deserved bigger contracts in the same range as NFL quarterbacks and he used "Prime Time" to his every advantage. The strategy was successful - 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 (the contract was essentially 5 years, but was given a 7 year length for an easier cap hit and the signing bonus was $12,999,999.99, 1 cent under 13.0 million due to superstition by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.) As he took on the Prime Time persona, he was easily one of the most visible and outspoken football players to ever take the field.

Even though some analysts considered him 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 was something that could not be denied.

Off the field, Sanders was known for being a quiet, reserved individual who was surprisingly a good teammate and avid student of the game - a marked contrast to his alter ego.

Dogfighting Controversy

Sanders made controversial public comments defending Michael Vick from dogfighting allegations. He stated, "What a dog means to Vick might be a lot different than what he means to you or I. Hold on, don’t start shaking your head just yet. Listen to me. Some people kiss their dogs on the mouth. Some people let their dogs eat from their plate. Some people dress their dogs in suits more expensive than mine, if you can believe that. And some people enjoy proving they have the biggest, toughest dog on the street. You’re probably not going to believe this, but I bet Vick loves the dogs that were the biggest and the baddest. Maybe, he identified with them in some way."

"Why are we indicting him? Was he the ringleader? Is he the big fish? Or is there someone else? The fights allegedly occurred at a property that he purchased for a family member. They apparently found carcasses on the property, but I must ask you again, is he the ringleader? This situation reminds me of a scene in the movie New Jack City when drug dealer Nino Brown is on the witness stand and eloquently says, 'This thing is bigger than me.' Are we using Vick to get to the ringleader? Are we using him to bring an end to dogfighting in the United States? The only thing I can gather from this situation is that we're using Vick." [3]

Other ventures

In addition to his sports career, Sanders has moved on to other ventures after his retirement. In 2003, Sanders took interest in Devin Hester, a return specialist from the University of Miami. Sanders mentored Hester, counselling and advising Hester during various points of his collegiate career. The Chicago Bears drafted Hester in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft. Since then, Hester has broken, tied, or approached many NFL return records. Hester has cited Sanders as one of his major inspirations and idols, and thanked Sanders’ for his training and advice. Hester, also known as “Anytime”, occasionally performs Sanders’ signature touchdown dance and high-steps in homage to his mentor.[4][5][6]

Sanders also tried to adopt a high school running back, Noel Devine, who was one of the top recruits in 2007. Sanders 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." He now mentors Devine, and was a factor in Devine's extended wait to sign a letter-of-intent to West Virginia University. Devine eventually signed to play football for the Mountaineers.

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, although he had originally been dubbed "Prime Time" due to his prowess as a basketball player in high school.[7]

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. During Sanders's run, he participated in several sketches. The first was "Primetime and 21st," a mock streetcorner where Sanders (not yet a regular panelist) would give his opinions. Another was his "Sanders Claus" persona, one of numerous sketches (adapted for various seasons, "Sanders Claus" did Christmas while Halloween and Thanksgiving versions were also used) that involved young kids in football jerseys, representing NFL players, receiving a sarcastic gift from Sanders.

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 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 with fellow Viacom property 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).

On September 2, 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 April 2006, Sanders became an owner of the Austin Wranglers, an Arena Football League team.[8] On March 2, 2007, Deion, on behalf of 'Sanders Clause', made an appearance at the PCW Arena in Arlington, Texas. He made his special appearance for a young adult with a physical illness. The boys name is Jeffery Stallone. Along side with PCW Tag Team Champion’s, Lance Hoyt “Shadow”, Wally Darkmon, “Main Event” Mike Foxx, and “The Texas Legend” Action Jackson they talked to a standing room only arena about Jeffery’s illness and Deion made the announcement that he will hold a special benefit show for Jeffery “The Snake” Stallone on March 17, 2007 at the PCW Arena, which then occurred on the given date.

Deion currently works as a host with Rich Eisen and Steve Mariucci for the NFL GameDay show on the NFL Network. Sanders also appeared on the ESPN TV show Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith 3 times.

Discography

Album Information
Prime Time
  • Released: 1995
  • Chart Positions: #70 Top Hip Hop/R&B
  • Last RIAA certification: Gold
  • Singles: "Must Be The Money", "Prime Time Keeps On Ticking"
The Encore Remix

Trivia

  • Sanders has been married twice - to Carolyn Chambers, with whom he has two children (Deiondra and Deion Jr.), and Pilar Biggers (Shilo and Shedeur).
  • 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. Sanders also appeared in MC Hammer's "Too Legit to Quit" music video.
  • Sanders also appeared as his alter-ego Prime Time in MC Hammer's Pumps and a Bump video.
  • During his 1994 season with San Francisco, Sanders bought himself a black Lamborghini Diablo stating "A present from me, to me." Later it was revealed in his book, that both Super Bowl victories with San Francisco and Dallas along with the Lamborghini still made him feel "empty."
  • Sanders has been in numerous television commercials for Nike, Pepsi, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and American Express. He was most notable as the Road Runner in a Pepsi ad with Wile E. Coyote, and in a Pizza Hut commercial where he responds to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones questions ("Football or baseball?" and "Offense or defense?") with "both!!", including the question "So what'll it be Deion? $15...20 million?" Deion pauses to think it over, and says, "Umm. ..both."[9]
  • In 2005, the fast-food Burger King chain, computer generated their famous "King" character over Deion's image when he intercepted a pass against the Buffalo Bills and raced for a touchdown eventually doing his customary "Deion shuffle" in the endzone.
  • 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.
  • While he wore the number 21 for the majority of his football career, he wore the number 2, his college football number, in practice.
  • He was known to lay out his entire uniform on the floor prior to games.
  • Cowboys owner Jerry Jones gave Sanders a custom-made Mercedes golf cart to get around training camp.
  • At one point, the gates guarding his Plano, Texas home had the words "Prime Time" emblazoned on each one.
  • Sanders is left-handed.
  • Sanders founded PrimeSelect Models based in the Fort Worth Dallas Area in Jan of 2007.
  • MLB catcher Carlton Fisk confronted Sanders during a game at Yankee Stadium when Sanders offended him by stepping up to the plate, drawing a dollar sign in the dirt before the pitch and then failing to run hard to first base after hitting a routine grounder. Fisk claimed Sanders was "playing the game the wrong way" and tarnished the game of baseball. The infamous incident was later recounted by Fisk on both ESPN Classic and a CNBC interview with Tim Russert.
  • Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall idolizes Sanders and seems to only allow himself to be mentored or take advice from Sanders himself. He even wears the number 21 and is as flashy and confident as the original Prime Time ever was. Sanders even goes so far as to call him "Prime Time Jr." when he recaps Atlanta Falcons highlights as a co-host on NFL GameDay.
  • He is the only man ever to score a touchdown and hit a home run in the same week in two major sports (NFL and MLB).
  • He is the only person to ever catch a Brett Favre pass in college and the NFL, both were interceptions.
  • Deion Sanders with J.M. Black. Power, Money & Sex: How Success Almost Ruined My Life. World Publishing 1998.
  • Published an article in the Ft. Myers News-Press on Sunday, July 22, 2007, pleading for the public to understand the Michael Vick scandal. He openly supported Vick and his "passion" for dogfighting, comparing Vick's passion to that to Sanders' own passion of jewelry. He also blames the amount of media coverage due to the fact "baseball is boring", even though the sport helped push his career higher, and other sports aren't around for reporters to cover. To read the whole article, please visit http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707230309

Notes

  1. ^ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1208/is_39_224/ai_65730491
  2. ^ "Ask the Falcons." AtlantaFalcons.com, May 20, 2006. This time, taken from the official team site, is a more direct source than the Washington Post article (Maske, Mark. "Clarett's Draft Stock Drops." The Washington Post, February 28, 2005.), which states Sanders' record is 4.28. Sanders has also unofficially recorded a 4.17 dash (Zeigler, Mark. "The NFL treats 40-yard dash times as sacred." The San Diego Union-Tribune, April 20, 2005.).
  3. ^ http://www.faniq.com/blog/Deion-Sanders-Attempts-to-Defend-Michael-Vick-Blog-3506
  4. ^ "Pilot episode is prime-time".
  5. ^ "Hester wins second straight player of week award".
  6. ^ "Q&A: Devin Hester".
  7. ^ http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016459.html
  8. ^ http://www.arenafootball.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=3500&ATCLID=271301&SPID=1547
  9. ^ http://lb.dallascowboys.com/news.cfm?editorialAuthor=2&id=B35D34DA-F102-12F4-C70A861801CA2A77
Preceded by Thorpe Award Winner
1988 		Succeeded by

Template:SeminolesRetired

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