1. Deion Sanders won two Super Bowl titles and made one World Series appearance in 1992, making him the only athlete to play in a Super Bowl and World Series.
92 Facts About Deion Sanders
1. 2.
Deion Sanders played college football as a cornerback for the Florida State Seminoles, winning the Jim Thorpe Award in 1988 before being selected by the Falcons fifth overall in the 1989 NFL draft.
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Deion Sanders played as a return specialist and occasionally as a wide receiver during his NFL career, receiving six first-team All-Pros and eight Pro Bowl honors.
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Deion Sanders was inducted into the College Football and Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
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Deion Sanders briefly worked as an analyst for NFL Network before coaching high school players throughout the 2010s.
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In 2020, Deion Sanders was named head coach of the Jackson State Tigers, leading them to two consecutive Celebration Bowl appearances and the school's first undefeated regular season in 2022.
7.
Deion Sanders's parents divorced when Sanders was two years old.
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Deion Sanders was raised by his mother and her new husband, Willie Knight, whom Deion Sanders credits with being influential in his life.
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Deion Sanders attended North Fort Myers High School, and was a letterman and All-State honoree in football, basketball and baseball.
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In 1985, Deion Sanders was named to the Florida High School Association All-Century Team which selected the top 33 players in the 100-year history of high school football in the state.
11.
Deion Sanders decided to play with Florida State University instead of signing with the Kansas City Royals.
12.
Deion Sanders enrolled at Florida State University and played three sports for the Florida State Seminoles: football, baseball, and track.
13.
Under head coach Bobby Bowden, Deion Sanders was a third-team All-American in 1986, and a two-time consensus All-American cornerback in 1987 and 1988, intercepting 14 passes in his career, including three in bowl games, and managed to return one interception 100 yards for a touchdown, breaking Fred Biletnikoff's interception return record by one yard.
14.
Deion Sanders was a standout 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.
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Deion Sanders finished his career with 126 punt returns for 1,429 yards and three touchdowns, as well as 14 interceptions, returning them for 287 yards and three scores.
16.
Bowden would later state that Deion Sanders was his "measuring stick for athletic ability".
17.
Deion Sanders had a nine-year, part-time baseball career, playing left and center field in 641 games with four teams.
18.
Deion Sanders was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the sixth round of the 1985 draft, but did not sign with them.
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Deion Sanders is the only person to play in both a Super Bowl and a World Series.
20.
Deion Sanders made the Yankees' Opening Day roster for the 1990 season.
21.
On May 22,1990, Deion Sanders became involved in a dispute with Chicago White Sox catcher Carlton Fisk.
22.
Deion Sanders started by stepping up to the plate with one out and a runner on third, drawing a dollar sign in the dirt before the pitch and then failed to run to first base after hitting a routine pop fly to shortstop, trotting back to the dugout instead.
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The Yankee fans booed, and Fisk told Deion Sanders to run the ball out and called Deion Sanders a "piece of shit".
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Later in the game, Deion Sanders told Fisk that "the days of slavery are over".
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Deion Sanders later signed with the Atlanta Braves for the 1991 MLB season.
26.
In 1997, Deion Sanders finished second in the NL with 56 stolen bases in 115 games while with the Cincinnati Reds before leaving baseball for three years.
27.
Deion Sanders returned to the Reds in 2001, but was released after playing in only 32 games and batting just.
28.
Since he was not then on an MLB roster, Deion Sanders had to leave Syracuse and return to the Washington Redskins so he would not violate his NFL contract.
29.
At the 1989 NFL Scouting Combine, Deion Sanders ran 40-yard dash times of 4.27s and 4.29s.
30.
Deion Sanders was the fifth pick overall in the 1989 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons, where he played until 1993.
31.
On October 11,1992, Deion Sanders played in a Falcons game in Miami and then flew to Pittsburgh, hoping to play in the Braves' League Championship Series game against the Pirates that evening and become the first athlete to play in two professional leagues in the same day.
32.
Deion Sanders, however did not appear in the baseball game that night.
33.
Deion Sanders had arguably his best season as a professional football player, recording six interceptions and returning them for an NFL-best 303 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 50.5 yards per return.
34.
On October 16,1994, Deion Sanders made his dramatic return to the Georgia Dome in a 49er uniform.
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Deion Sanders was later voted the 1994 NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
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Deion Sanders played four more seasons with Dallas, earning Pro Bowl selection in all of them.
37.
In 2004, Deion Sanders announced his intention to come out of retirement after being convinced by his friend Joe Zorovich, Baltimore Ravens cornerback Corey Fuller, and linebacker Ray Lewis to play.
38.
Deion Sanders signed a one-year deal with the Ravens to be a nickelback.
39.
Deion 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 as an NFL player.
40.
Deion Sanders stayed as the head coach for 2012 and 2013.
41.
On September 21,2020, Deion Sanders became the 21st head coach of the Jackson State Tigers of the historically black Jackson State University.
42.
Deion Sanders notably flipped the recruitment of defensive back Travis Hunter who was the number one overall recruit in the 2022 class.
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Not only did Deion Sanders attract high-level recruits for HBCUs, he increased revenue for these once low funded teams and put HBCUs on the map.
44.
Deion Sanders paid for meals and training facilities out of his own pocket.
45.
On December 3,2022, Deion Sanders was named the head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes.
46.
Deion Sanders made extensive use of the transfer portal in replacing nearly the Buffaloes' entire roster, with 46 players leaving in the transfer portal and 50 transferring in.
47.
Deion Sanders became only the second two-way starter in the NFL since Chuck Bednarik.
48.
Deion Sanders is the only man to play in both a Super Bowl and a World Series, to hit an MLB home run and score an NFL touchdown in the same week, and to have both a reception and an interception in the Super Bowl.
49.
Deion Sanders is one of seven players to win back-to-back Super Bowls with different teams.
50.
Deion Sanders is one of two players to score an NFL touchdown six different ways.
51.
Deion Sanders amassed 7,838 all-purpose yards and scored 22 touchdowns, nine interception returns, six punt returns, three kickoff returns, three receiving, and one fumble recovery.
52.
Deion Sanders's 19 defensive and return touchdowns was an NFL record.
53.
Deion Sanders was selected to eight Pro Bowls and won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1994.
54.
On February 6,2011, at Super Bowl XLV in Arlington, Texas, Deion Sanders performed the pre-game coin toss.
55.
Deion Sanders did not attend classes or take final exams during the fall semester of his senior year at Florida State, yet played in the Sugar Bowl against Auburn.
56.
Deion Sanders became known for sporting a "do-rag" or bandana and for high-stepping into the end zone followed by his touchdown dance celebrations.
57.
Deion Sanders, wearing custom-made showy suits and flashy jewelry, capitalized on his image.
58.
On December 26,1994, Deion Sanders released Prime Time, a rap album on MC Hammer's Bust It Records that featured the singles "Must Be the Money" and "Prime Time Keeps on Tickin'".
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Deion Sanders performed a medley of songs from Prime Time, including "Must Be the Money" and "Heidi Heidi Hey".
60.
In January 1995, Deion Sanders became the spokesman for the Sega Sports line of video games.
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Deion Sanders has appeared in television commercials for such companies as Nike, Pepsi, Burger King, Pizza Hut and American Express.
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Deion Sanders makes a cameo as himself in the film Celtic Pride.
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The first was "Primetime and 21st", a mock street corner where Deion Sanders would give his opinions.
64.
Deion Sanders actually debuted as "Deion Sanders Claus" in a set of Nike commercials.
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Deion Sanders frequently made guest appearances on ESPN, especially on the ESPN Radio Dallas affiliate, and briefly hosted a show called The New American Sportsman.
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Deion Sanders co-hosted the 2004 GMA Dove Awards broadcast, taped in late April 2004, and slated for air on UPN in May 2004.
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Deion Sanders has a segment called "Let's Go Primetime" on NFL Network.
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Deion Sanders appeared as himself in the fourth season of The League, playing a prospective buyer of Andre's apartment.
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In 2014, Deion Sanders was featured in an episode of Running Wild with Bear Grylls, where he and Grylls hiked in the desert of southern Utah for two days, rappelling down canyon walls and later climbing up a mesa.
70.
Deion Sanders served as an alumni captain for Team Deion Sanders in the 2014 Pro Bowl.
71.
Deion Sanders re-joined CBS Sports as a studio analyst for Thursday games only.
72.
In 2018, Deion Sanders appeared in disguise on Undercover Boss; he met with youth coaches and the less fortunate; it aired on CBS.
73.
Deion Sanders is featured in the docuseries Coach Prime, which follows his career as a college football head coach.
74.
The commercial depicted Deion Sanders suggesting he could still play at a level higher than the rookies in the 2013 NFL draft and deciding to make a comeback.
75.
Deion Sanders dons an afro, assumes the impromptu alias "Leon Sandcastle" and enters the draft, going through the full NFL Scouting Combine.
76.
Deion Sanders released his debut album in 1994, Prime Time, through Hammer's Bust It Records label via Capitol Records.
77.
In 2003, Deion Sanders took interest in Devin Hester, a return specialist from Miami.
78.
Deion Sanders mentored Hester; he counselled and advised him during his collegiate career.
79.
Deion Sanders tried to adopt a high school running back, Noel Devine, who was one of the top recruits in 2007.
80.
Deion Sanders has been a mentor to Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Michael Crabtree, as well as former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver, Dez Bryant.
81.
In January 2004, Deion 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 Deion Sanders had never played organized basketball either in college or the professional level.
82.
On September 2,2005, in response to Hurricane Katrina, Deion Sanders challenged all professional athletes in the four major sports to donate $1,000 each to relief efforts, hoping to raise between $1.5 and $3 million.
83.
Deion Sanders has occasionally served as a celebrity spokesperson, such as representing Monitronics, a security system firm, at an industry conference in the spring of 2010.
84.
In 1997, Deion Sanders was going through a dark time in his life when his first marriage was ending and said he attempted suicide by driving a car off a cliff in Cincinnati while playing for the Reds.
85.
In 2012, Deion Sanders co-founded the charter school Prime Prep Academy.
86.
Deion Sanders was later fired as the coach after CFO Kevin Johnson alleged Deion Sanders assaulted him.
87.
Deion Sanders publicly denied the claim, but witnesses said he had grabbed the school official by the collar, causing him to fall.
88.
Deion Sanders pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge and paid a $765.70 fine.
89.
In 2015, Deion Sanders was named the CEO of FOCUS Academies and granted the head coaching position at Triple A Academy, which Deion Sanders led to face his alma mater North Fort Myers High School in Florida, a game featuring a key matchup between several ranked recruits.
90.
Deion Sanders served on the staff as offensive coordinator under former Dallas Cowboy Aveion Cason.
91.
In 2020, Deion Sanders graduated from Talladega College with a bachelor's degree in business administration with an emphasis on organizational management.
92.
In 2021, Deion Sanders underwent several foot surgeries and had two toes on his left foot amputated as a result of blood clots.