Deion Sanders, football and baseball star, Shedeur Sanders' father, two-time Super Bowl winner, member of the Pro Football and College Football Halls of Fame.
Early Life and High School Career
Deion Luwynn Sanders was born on August 9, 1967, in Fort Myers, Florida. While in high school, he played basketball, baseball, and football, achieving definite success in all sports. Sanders was later ranked as one of the top 33 players in the hundred years of high school football in the state. He graduated in 1985 and was drafted by baseball's Kansas City Royals, but decided not to sign a contract and enrolled in college.
College Career at Florida State
In the Florida State program, Deion continued to showcase his versatility. In his first year as a member of the college track and field team, he won a conference championship; the baseball team he played on as an outfielder finished fifth in the NCAA. In four seasons with the football Seminoles, he played in 44 games, making 14 interceptions, including three in bowls. Following the 1988 season, Sanders won the Jim Thorpe Award for the best defensive back in college football. He was also great on punt returns, totaling 1,429 yards for his career. Now the number 2 under which Deion took the field has been retired by the university.
NFL and MLB Professional Career
Sanders was selected by Atlanta at No. 5 overall in the 1989 draft. By then, he had been a player in the New York Yankees baseball system for a year. Deion made his MLB debut on May 31, 1989. He made his first appearance in an NFL game that fall, highlighted by a touchdown on a punt return. Sanders' baseball career went on to include Atlanta, Cincinnati and San Francisco, and peaked with the 1992 season, in which the Braves went to the World Series and lost to Toronto. Deion spent it with a leg injury, but was one of the best on the team.
He played in the Atlanta football lineup until 1993. During that stretch of his career, Sanders threw 24 interceptions and scored 10 touchdowns (three on defense, five on returns and two on receptions). In 1992, he had a chance to become the first athlete in history to play in two leagues on the same day: after the Falcons' game in Miami, Deion flew to Pittsburgh for a baseball game, but the Braves' coach wouldn't let him on the field. Before the start of the 1994 season, Sanders signed with San Francisco. He had a great regular season, winning the Defensive Player of the Year award at the end of it, and then went on to win Super Bowl XXIX. In the season opener against San Diego, Deion threw an interception. He also became the first athlete to play in the Super Bowl and the World Series.
After an overachieving year, Sanders signed a seven-year, $35 million contract with Dallas Cowboys, becoming the highest-paid quarterback in the league. He later wrote in his book that he was offered better terms with the Raiders, and he chose Cowboys because of better chances of making the Super Bowl. Deion's calculation paid off: the 1995 season ended with the team's triumph in Super Bowl XXX. For Dallas, the title was the third in four years. He played for the team until the end of the 1999 season. After that was a disappointing year with the Redskins and the career pause that followed. In 2001, Sanders finished his baseball career, and in 2004 he returned to the football field: for two more seasons with the Ravens. He finally left in 2006.
Legacy and Post-Career Achievements
Deion Sanders' football career spanned fourteen seasons. During that time, he was named to the Pro Bowl eight times and was named to the All-Pro first team eleven times at various positions. He scored touchdowns in six different ways: on interception returns, punt and kickoff returns, on receptions and takeaways, and on fumble returns. Only Bill Dudley, who played in the 1940s, was able to do something like that. In 2011, Sanders was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the 1990s All-Star team (as a cornerback and return specialist) and the NFL's Team of the Century.
After his career ended, Sanders remains a popular and media personality. He appears extensively in commercials and various television shows, and works as an analyst for NFL Network. In 2008, a reality show was aired, the main characters of which were Deion, his wife and their five children. He has other interests as well: he has released two music albums and written a book, worked as a personal trainer for a number of players and even served as an assistant head coach for the Dallas Fury women's NBA team. From 2006 to 2008, Sanders was co-owner of the Austin Ranglers, a team that played in the arena football league.