Athletes - Deion Sanders

Home > Listing Index > Athletes > Deion Sanders

	Athletes - Deion Sanders

Deion Luwynn Sanders (born August 9, 1967 in Fort Myers, Florida) is an NFL cornerback, former Major League Baseball player, and former CBS Sports commentator.

Sanders, also known as Neon Deion, Prime Time, and Nine-Toe, is considered one of the most versatile athletes in American sports history, along with Jim Thorpe and Bo Jackson.

High school career

Sanders attended North Fort Myers High School in North Fort Myers, Florida, and was an All-State selection in football, basketball, and baseball.

College career

Sanders was a star in three sports for the Florida State Seminoles, participating in football, baseball, and track. Beginning in his freshman year, where he started in the Seminoles secondary, played outfield for the baseball team which finished fifth in the nation, and helped lead the track and field team to a conference championship, it was made 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 1987, 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 Marin, 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

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 technique was poor and his covering technique was unconventional, his coverage aided by his blinding speed and athleticism made up for it, and opposing teams were forced to alter their offensive and special teams schemes accordingly. Over the course of his NFL career, Sanders was selected to 8 Pro Bowls in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998, and was awarded the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1994.

He played briefly with the San Francisco 49ers, where he won a Super Bowl, and went on to win another with the Dallas Cowboys, where he played for several years. He is the only player to catch a pass and make an interception in the Super Bowl. He later was acquired by the Washington Redskins, and retired in 2001, though he would later come back to play in the NFL in 2004.

During his 12-year career, Sanders was one of the most versatile weapons in the game. He intercepted 53 passes for over 1300 yards, and scored 22 touchdowns: nine by interception, six on punt returns, three by reception, three on kickoff returns, and one fumble recovery. By the end of his career, offensive coordinators generally avoided utilizing Sanders' side of the field.

One of the few successful two-way players of the modern NFL, Sanders was easily one of the most visible and outspoken to ever take the field. Even though he was widely known as an obnoxious, egomaniacal prima donna, and scorned for his infrequent tackling, Sanders' ability to shut down one side of the field could not be denied.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Deion Sanders ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Deion Sanders; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.