football player; baseball player
Personal Information
Born Deion Luwynn Sanders on August 9, 1967, in Fort Myers, FL; son of Constance Knight; married Carolyn Chambers (divorced); married Pilar Biggers, 1999; children: (with Chambers) Diondra and Deion, Jr., (with Biggers) one child.
Education: Attended Florida State University, 1985-88.
Career
Professional football and baseball player. Picked fifth in first round of 1989 National Football League (NFL) draft by Atlanta Falcons; cornerback and punt returner for Falcons, 1989-94; San Francisco 49ers, 1994; Dallas Cowboys, 1995-00; Washington Redskins, 2000-01. Signed with New York Yankees baseball club, 1988; played in minor leagues in Fort Lauderdale and Sarasota, FL, and Columbus, OH; promoted to major leagues in June of 1989; played in less than 20 games with parent team, 1989-90, Atlanta Braves, left-handed hitter and outfielder, 1991-94; Cincinnati Reds, 1994-.
Life's Work
Deion Sanders has been a top-ranked athlete since the day he entered high school. Sanders has carried the nickname "Prime Time" with him from his high school days. The name summed up his goal: to be a prime time player--a famous, wealthy, and admired athlete. Playing both football and baseball, Sanders achieved his goal and became the only man to play in both a Super Bowl and a World Series.
Ever since Sanders left Florida State University as the fifth player selected in the 1989 football draft, he has cut a controversial swath across two sports. "Hey, all my life I be the man," he announced in Sports Illustrated. "I mean, I've been in the spotlight at every level. It's just a bigger spotlight. I learned the system in college. How do you think defensive backs get attention?... They don't pay nobody to be humble. Some people will come out to see me do well. Some people will come out to see me get run over. But love me or hate me, they're going to come out. I'm a businessman now, and the product is me. Prime Time. I'm the first defensive back to make a million dollars a year. Set a record for a bonus. Cash up front."
Sanders's uninhibited drive for fame led him to adorn himself with gold and bright clothes, drive a fleet of expensive cars, and occasionally quarrel with those who make an issue of his flashy attire. Sanders--the first athlete ever to hit a home run in a professional baseball game and score a touchdown in a professional football game in the same week--was not about to apologize for his mode of dress or his opinions.
Deion Luwynn Sanders was born and raised in Fort Myers, Florida. His name was suggested by a cousin, but his mother, Connie Knight, added the extra letters to dress it up a bit. Sanders had little to say about his upbringing in a poor section of Fort Myers, except that athletics saved him from a life of crime. "It would've been easy for me to sell drugs," he remarked in Esquire. "But I had practice. My friends who didn't have practice, they went straight to the streets and never left."
Sanders, on the other hand, began scoring touchdowns for the Pop Warner youth league team at the age of eight. He played football, basketball, and baseball in high school, and he liked basketball best. "Let me tell you something," Sanders was quoted as saying in Esquire. "The best athletes in the world end up at home on the corner. Oh you bet they do. I call them Idas." He elaborated: "'If I'da done this, I'd be here today.' 'If I'da practiced a little harder, damn, I'd be a superstar.' They'll be standing on that corner till they die telling you all the things they woulda done. I see 'em all the time. Guys who were as fast as me when we were kids."
A Cocky Freshman
Sanders's mother must have had some tense moments worrying about her son despite his athletic ability. When Deion was a teenager he came under the spell of a man he called an "uncle" from "the other side," who was a drug dealer. This glamorous, jewelry-laden man convinced Sanders to stay away from drugs entirely. Sanders did not smoke or drink. "See, in my hometown, [drug dealing] was the community job," Sanders recalled in Sports Illustrated. "You graduated from high school to the streets and became a drug dealer." Sanders added that he was trying to show youngsters that one can earn the flashy jewelry and trappings of wealth without breaking the law. "Kids from the streets ... look up to drug dealers," he said. "But I'm showing them something else.... I'm proving you can do it on the right side."
Sanders was heavily recruited out of high school, and he finally chose to attend Florida State University. In high school he had been a left-handed option quarterback, but in college he switched to defense and special teams. "Anybody can play wide receiver," Sanders explained in Sports Illustrated. "I wanted to be special." He wanted to be so special, in fact, that he arrived in Tallahassee, the site of Florida State, in a car with "Prime Time" on the front license plate. He also demanded that his own poster be sold at games.
Such cockiness in a freshman was almost beyond belief, but Sanders began to make his presence felt almost immediately. At six feet and 185 pounds, he proved to be a quick and deadly opponent. During his years at Florida State he scored six career touchdowns on punt or interception returns and was named an All-American two times. In his last year he led the country in yardage for punt returns with a 15.2 yard average and earned the Jim Thorpe Award as the best defensive back in the nation.
Proved Baseball and Football Prowess in College
Sanders also set records for audacity, both on and off the field. Once, during the halftime show at a game against South Carolina University, he shouted to the fans of the SCU team, which was losing by a wide margin, that they ought to ask for their money back. Another time--in a move reminiscent of baseball legend Babe Ruth--he prepared for a punt return by announcing to the Clemson Tiger bench: "This one's going back!" He proceeded to run 76 yards for a touchdown, then struck a long pose in the end zone. All of this was accomplished at Clemson's field, in front of a hostile crowd.
Sanders's ability was not lost on the professional scouts nor on the sportswriters who cover football. Sports Illustrated reporter Albert Kim called the cocky cornerback "one of the best defensive back prospects pro scouts have ever seen." Football, however, was not the only sport Sanders conquered in college. He also played baseball, helping Florida State to advance to the 1987 college World Series--where they finished fifth--and ran the 400 meter for the track team. He was best remembered, though, for his participation in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl, in which Florida State beat Nebraska 31-28. That year, Florida State finished the season ranked second in the nation behind the perennial power, Miami University.
Small wonder, then, that Sanders was picked high in the first round of the 1989 draft by the Atlanta Falcons. The team's management soon discovered, however, that they had more than they bargained for in Deion Sanders. They offered the player $400,000. He asked for $11 million. Needless to say, contract negotiations were lengthy and at times venomous, but Sanders could afford to be patient. In 1988 he had signed with the New York Yankees organization to play professional baseball. By the time he was drafted as a football player he was already being touted as a major league prospect. Indeed, the paperwork with Atlanta was still being revised--in Sanders's favor--when he was called to Yankee Stadium to fill in for an injured outfielder.
Sanders had played in less than 100 professional baseball games when he joined the Yankees in June of 1989. His jump to the big leagues was extraordinary--many top-quality stars spend as many as five years in the minors, and Sanders was there less than a year. Even more remarkable was the attitude Sanders brought with him to Yankee Stadium. He told the media that baseball was, for him, a relief from the hard knocks of football. He played it as a rest from the real work, which he saw as his eventual move to the Falcons. "I've always said I love football and that baseball is my girlfriend," he told Sports Illustrated in 1989.
Offered Highest Salary for a Defensive Player
Late in the summer of 1989, the Falcons offered Sanders a $4.4 million contract--salary and bonuses--for five years, the highest sum of money ever offered to a defensive player. Only 24 hours after slugging a home run for the Yankees against the Seattle Mariners, Sanders bid his baseball pals goodbye and headed to Atlanta for his first game as a football pro. His plainspoken attitude and high salary demands had not endeared him to the Falcons fans, but he soon changed many minds. Five minutes into his first professional game, he ran back a punt for a 68-yard touchdown. No other player--even the much-ballyhooed Bo Jackson--had ever hit a home run and scored a touchdown in professional games in the same week.
By the end of the 1991-92 season Sanders was All-Pro at his cornerback position, appreciated for his ability to defend against the league's surest receivers and for his capacity to intercept and run with the ball. He even saw a few downs in the position of wide receiver, but defense remained his strong suit. With his much-maligned "Prime Time" antics now overshadowed somewhat by the manic behavior of new Falcons coach Jerry Glanville, Sanders helped the Falcons to advance to the NFL playoffs early in 1992 for the first time since 1983.
With the onset of the 1990s, that old "girlfriend," baseball, was calling Sanders to a more serious relationship. Released by the New York Yankees in 1990--he played in less than twenty games with the parent team--Sanders signed a contract with the Atlanta Braves that allowed him to pursue both baseball and football. As a left-handed hitter who could possibly become a switch-hitter, Sanders had real potential on the diamond. He was greatly disappointed to have to sit in the stands and watch the Braves go to the World Series in 1991.
Despite his continued quality play with the Falcons, Sanders expressed a desire to seek a way out of his football contract so he can concentrate on baseball. He expressed in Sports Illustrated that the turning point for him was seeing a banner flying from the upper deck of Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium during a Braves game. It read: "Deion, this is your brain," followed by a drawing of a baseball, and "This is your brain on drugs," followed by a drawing of a football. Sanders said: "Best banner I've ever seen. I took it to heart."
During a lengthy negotiation process with the Atlanta Falcons during the late summer and early fall of 1992, Sanders outlined in Sports Illustrated what he felt were his choices: "A, play baseball full-time through the World Series and go to football on November 1; B, play baseball during the week, football on the weekends; C, play football only; D, the hell with 'em both, and just go fishing. Well, it looks like B and D are out." In a compromise, Sanders and the Falcons came to an agreement that he would stay with the squad. He missed three football games because of postseason play with the Braves, who eventually lost the World Series to the Toronto Blue Jays.
In baseball and football, Sanders continued to strut on the field, his gold chains flying. His vanity prompted a shaky relationship with the media. After the Braves won the pennant in October of 1992, the player doused CBS reporter Tim McCarver with water three times because the correspondent had criticized Sanders for planning to play for the Falcons and the Braves on the same day. Commenting on his reputation for being an egomaniac, Sanders noted in Sports Illustrated, "On the field, I can't help getting excited about what I do. In a white man, that's called confidence. In a black man, that's called cockiness, trash-talking. You can say one thing and be labeled a trash-talker, and a black man can't shake that image. I can't shake that image."
That image, however, slowly began to alter as Sanders became known throughout Atlanta for his charitable donations to children's hospitals and his dream of building an after-school sports program to keep youngsters away from drugs. Sanders and his fiancee, Carolyn Chambers, had a daughter, Diondra. The couple were later married, and had a son, Deion, Jr. When not on the field pursuing one or the other of his professional sports, he lived quietly with his family in Alpharetta, Georgia. "People seem to take the way I perform on my job for the way I am in life," Sanders was quoted as saying in Sports Illustrated. "The truth is, I'm a very family- and home-oriented person."
Left Atlanta to Pursue Super Bowl Dream
1994 brought Sanders two career changes. That spring, he left the Atlanta Braves baseball team for the Cincinnati Reds. The change was a positive one. "This is not like a military-run team," Sanders commented to the Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. "We have a great time. It reminds me of the Falcons. The reporters have been good, the fans are good, the teammates are good. Everything's all good."
In the fall, he signed to play football with the San Francisco 49ers. Turning down more lucrative offers, Sanders agreed to a year-long contract at $1.25 million. For Sanders, the decision was not so much about money, as about his desire to play in a Super Bowl. "I don't think I could have fulfilled that dream in Atlanta," he told Knight-Ridder.
Sanders's style and ability were a welcome addition in San Francisco. As Knight-Ridder writer S.A. Paolantonio observed, his "sparkling smile and dazzling talent have put the 49ers back at center stage." Paolantonio continued, "He's the Wilt Chamberlain of his time--a performer so complete and dominating that he makes the other players look like they're playing at a lower level."
At the end of the 1994 season, Sanders's dream came true. The 49ers made it to the Super Bowl. But, not only did Sanders get to play in a Super Bowl, he helped the team win. The following year, Sanders signed a $35 million contract with the Dallas Cowboys. In addition, Sanders decided to take a year off from baseball, in order to concentrate on becoming football's only full-time player to play both offense and defense. "Now we'll see how good I can be," he told Jet. "I want to have an impact on both sides of the ball." The close of the 1995 season saw the Cowboys winning the Super Bowl--Sanders had now won two back-to-back Super Bowls.
In 1996 Sanders's wife filed for divorce on the grounds of adultery and, according to Jet, "cruel treatment." Several weeks later, though, the couple reconciled and asked the court to dismiss Carolyn's petition. However, their reconciliation did not last, and the couple divorced in 1998.
Returned to Baseball
Sanders returned to baseball and the Cincinnati Reds in 1997. Sanders told the Sporting News, "I honestly believe I was born to play football. It's natural for me. Baseball is tougher." And more challenging. He continued, "I know I've never played as well as I wish I could, and I'd like to have a breakthrough year. That means being more patient, getting on base more consistently so I can use my speed. I want to prove some things." Although football was his strength, Sanders was determined to improve his baseball game. He told the Sporting News, "I know in football they better not throw it in my zone or I'm going to get it. I want to get that confidence in baseball, too."
Even though his talent as a football player exceeded his ability as a baseball player, his fellow Reds were happy to have Sanders on the team. "We really like the guy," team captain Barry Larkin told the Sporting News, "because he is a legitimate good guy and because he brings an energy to a team every day that few players ever have." And Sanders was just as happy with Cincinnati. "This is the only place I want to play," he told the Sporting News.
Sanders's hard work and determination paid off. With his 56 stolen bases, he finished the 1997 season ranking 2nd in the National League. Sanders then decided he needed another break from baseball.
As his marriage crumbled, divorce becoming an inevitability, Sanders plunged into a spiritual and emotional darkness. Ready to end the pain, he considered (and attempted, according to some sources) suicide. One night he was awakened by a bright light illuminating his Cincinnati apartment. In that moment, Sanders found God. He turned to Bishop T.D. Jakes, who had counseled Sanders and his wife, for spiritual guidance, and Jakes became Sanders's mentor. Sanders chronicled his conversion in the 1998 book Power, Money, & Sex: How Success Almost Ruined My Life.
With his newfound religious conviction, Sanders began attending weekly Bible study meetings with the Dallas Cowboys, becoming, according to the Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, "a sort of spiritual ringleader for these weekly gatherings." Utilizing his trademark charm and flamboyance, Sanders sent out a weekly call over the loudspeaker, asking the team to attend the lunchtime meetings. Usually 15 or 20 teammates gathered each week. Sanders explained the importance of the weekly meetings to Knight-Ridder: "Some guys are bleeding inside... . Some are on the brink of suicide, who are hurting, in pain, don't even want to go home after practice. You don't know what they're dealing with. A lot of people don't even care. They just see them as a commodity. You (the media) see them as an interview. I see them as something different than that."
New Wife, New Life
In 1999 Sanders married Pilar Biggers, a model and actress. The wedding was held on Nassau's Paradise Island, with Bishop T.D. Jakes officiating. "Pilar is a good woman with Christian values and has helped me rebuild the shattered pieces of my life," Sanders told Jet. "Miracle of miracles, I am alive and in love again!" The couple's first child was born in 2000.
Sanders was cut from the Dallas Cowboys in 2000 for salary cap reasons. Days later, he signed as a free agent with the Washington Redskins. The seven-year contact provided a $56 million paycheck. "It's wonderful to be a Redskin," Sanders told Jet. "They've always had something special. There's nothing like these fans, this tradition." A year later, however, Sanders decided to retire from football altogether.
Many could not believe Sanders's decision. Darren Hambrick, linebacker for the Cowboys, told the Dallas Morning News, "How could the godfather of all corners just walk away?" Darren Woodson agreed, telling the Dallas Morning News, "He has a lot more game in him. I know that." But Sanders's decision was final. However, he had not spent much time thinking about what he would do now that he had retired. Sanders told the Dallas Morning News, "The only thing I know for sure that I'm going to do is fish until there are no more fish in the lake."
Awards
Selected Awards: Jim Thorpe Award for best defensive back, 1988; named Pro Bowl cornerback, 1992.
Further Reading
Books
- The Complete Marquis Who's Who, Marquis, 2001.
- Associated Press (wire reports), October 10, 1992; October 12, 1992; October 17, 1992; October 18, 1992.
- Atlanta Constitution, September 15, 1989; October 19, 1989.
- Dallas Morning News, July 28, 2001; July 29, 2001.
- Esquire, June 1992; October 2000.
- Jet, March 11, 1996; October 7, 1996; October 14, 1996; August 3, 1998; June 14, 1999; June 26, 2000.
- Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, June 20, 1994; September 14, 1994; October 1, 1994; November 26, 1994; December 3, 1998.
- Oakland Press (Oakland County, MI), August 1, 1992; September 20, 1992; October 10, 1992; October 12, 1992; October 17, 1992; October 18, 1992.
- Publisher's Weekly, October 26, 1998.
- The Sporting News, September 20, 1992; March 10, 1997; February 28, 2000.
- Sports Illustrated, June 12, 1989; November 13, 1989; April 27, 1992; August 24, 1992.
- Washington Post, June 4, 1989.
- Additional information obtained from Atlanta Braves 1992 Media Guide.
— Mark Kram and Jennifer M. York
