Deion Sanders

Deion Sanders Headshot

Football Player • Baseball Player • Coach • Sports Commentator

Birth Name: Deion Luwynn Sanders

Birth Date: August 9, 1967

Age: 57 years old

Birth Place: Fort Myers, Florida

Partners: Tracey Edmonds

Throughout the 1990s, Deion Sanders became one of most dynamic personalities in sports as a cornerback and kick-returner in the National Football League, a clutch hitter and base-stealing threat in Major League Baseball, and one of the most relentlessly self-promotional egos in either sport. Earning the nickname "Neon Deion" in his high school years and dubbing himself "Prime Time" during his college days at Florida State, Sanders was hailed as a singular all-around athletic talent and began dual pro careers with the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Falcons in 1989. He hit his stride on the diamond with the Atlanta Braves and, in the NFL, went on to consecutive Super Bowl-winning stints with the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys in 1994 and 1995 seasons, respectively.

A perennial Pro Bowler as a defensive back, he became the rare modern-era star who played both sides of the ball as he expanded his game as a wide receiver with Dallas. After a late-career comeback with the Baltimore Ravens, Sanders shifted to the airwaves to become an outspoken analyst for NFL TV. One of only two NFL players ever to score touchdowns six different ways (interception, punt-return, kick-return, rushing, receiving, and fumble recovery) and the only athlete to play in both the World Series and the Super Bowl, Sanders proved himself to be one of the most versatile talents of his era.

He was born Deion Luwynn Sanders on Aug. 9, 1967, in Fort Myers, FL, to Constance Knight, who raised him as a single mother. Growing up in a tough, drug-infested Fort Myers neighborhood, Deion channeled his ample innate energy into Pop Warner football during his grade school years. He blossomed into a multisport star at North Fort Myers High School, playing quarterback for its football team and becoming an all-state selection in baseball and basketball.

His artistry on the basketball court earned him the nickname "Neon Deion," while his football skills garnered him a scholarship at Florida State University in Tallahassee. He started as a freshman cornerback, and the next spring both played baseball and ran for FSU's track team. Sanders earned a reputation for talking smack on the field but backed it up. He drew the first of three All-American selections in 1986, and two years later, topped the NCAA with a 15.2 yards-per-return average as a punt-returner and earned the Jim Thorpe Award for the best college DB.

On the diamond, Sanders consistently hit above .300 and stole 27 bases in the 1987 season on the way to the team's No. 5 finish in that year's College World Series.

Not surprisingly, people started taking notice. The New York Yankees and the Atlanta Falcons selected him in the MLB and NFL drafts, respectively, in 1988 and '89. In an audacious move, Sanders decided to play both sports. He set the stage for a career of bombastic verve in negotiations with the Falcons by demanding an $11 million contract. He eventually signed for $4.4 million, the highest ever paid an NFL defensive player. Meanwhile, after a short stint in the Yankees' farm system, he was called up to The Bronx in June 1989.

Sanders proved his merits to leery Falcons fans quickly: he became the first pro athlete to hit a MLB home run, fly out to join his football team and score a touchdown (on a 68-yard punt return) in the span of a week. After the Yankees released him in 1990, he simplified his life by signing with the Atlanta Braves, whom he helped to win a divisional title and, the next year, the National League pennant. Though the Braves went on to lose the World Series to Toronto, it was in spite of Sanders' eight hits for a .533 batting average for the series. In 1992, Sanders led the NFL by averaging 26.7 yards per kick-return and took two for touchdowns. He exploited his star power as one of Nike's highest profile ad shills and a periodic spokesman for other consumer products, and, in 1994, he released a rap album, Prime Time.

At the peak of his power, he signed with the San Francisco 49ers for the 1994 season. As a Niner, he snared six interceptions, three for touchdowns, and won that year's NFL Defensive Player of the Year. The 49ers went on to win Super Bowl XXIX with Sanders contributing an interception to the effort.

In the 1995 off-season, he and his agent initiated a much-hyped round of bidding for his football services. Sanders signed a seven-year, $35 million contract with Dallas, lured by a guarantee that he would see more snaps as a receiver. He went to his second consecutive Super Bowl, hauled in a 47-yard pass on the Cowboys' initial scoring drive, and garnered another ring as Dallas downed the Pittsburgh Steelers. With starting receiver Michael Irvin serving a suspension, Sanders started the 1996 season in his place while continuing to start on defense. He caught 36 passes for 475 yards on the season.

In baseball, he bounced to the Cincinnati Reds for a time and turned in a standout season in 1997 with 57 stolen bases, but he suspended his baseball career after the season. The Cowboys traded Sanders to the Washington Redskins in 2000. He recorded four interceptions for the Redskins in the 2000 season, but decided to retire in 2001.

The Baltimore Ravens lured him back to football in 2004 as a nickelback reserve, which kept his playing time down by limiting it to passing situations. At age 37, he recorded his ninth career pick-six during the season. Upon retiring again in the wake of the 2006 season - with a career tally of 53 interceptions and 22 touchdowns, including an NFL record 19 non-offensive touchdowns - he hired on as an in-studio analyst with the NFL Network.

In 2008, he and his second wife, model Pilar Biggers, opened their home and domestic life for an Oxygen reality show "Deion & Pilar: Prime Time Love" (2008). The show scored big (for cable) ratings with its premiere episode, but, after its first season, Oxygen scrapped it. The Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted Sanders in 2011.

Deion and Pilar divorced that year, and the proceedings stretched into an ugly and public legal wrangle that, in April 2012, included Sanders pressing charges against Biggers for assault. The feud stretched into 2013 with a trial for custody of their children, highlighted by the couple's dueling bad-parenting charges, with Biggers contending Sanders used performance-enhancing drugs while Sanders made hay over her allowing their daughter to appear in a violent R-rated B-movie.

By Matthew Grimm

Credits

We Got Time TodayStream

Executive Producer
Movie
2024

We Got Time TodayStream

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Movie
2024

Evolution of the Black QuarterbackStream

Voice
Docuseries
2024

Coach Prime

Self
Show
2022

Taylor Rooks X

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Show
2022

CBS Mornings

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News
2021

Ostatni gwizdek

Self
Show
2021

John Legend and Family: A Bigger Love Father's Day

Actor
Show
2020

Deion's Double Play

Actor
Show
2020

NFL 100 Generations

Actor
Show
2019

NFL 100 Roundtables

Guest
Show
2019

The Kelly Clarkson Show

Guest
Talk
2019

Peyton's Places

Actor
Reality
2019

100%: Julian Edelman

Actor
Movie
2019

2019 NFL Scouting Combine

Host
Show
2019

Super Bowl Prime

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2019

Today 3rd Hour

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2018

Celebrity Undercover Boss

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Reality
2018

Superstar Slime Showdown at Super Bowl 2018

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2018

21st & Prime

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2017

STEVE on Watch

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2017

NFL GameDay Prime

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2016

NFL GameDay Prime

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2016

The $100,000 PyramidStream

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Game Show
2016

To Tell the TruthStream

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Game Show
2016

GrandfatheredStream

Guest Star
Himself
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2015
71%

FABLife

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2015

FABLife

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2015

NFL GameDay Overtime

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2015

Lip Sync BattleStream

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2015

With This RingStream

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Keith
Movie
2015

NFL Thursday Night Kickoff: Saturday Edition

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2014

The Rich Eisen Show

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2014

The Rich Eisen Show

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Show
2014

NFL Thursday Night Kickoff

Host
Show
2014

Running Wild With Bear GryllsStream

Self
Reality
2014

Deion's Family Playbook

Creator
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2014

Deion's Family Playbook

Executive Producer
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2014

Deion's Family Playbook

Self
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2014

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy FallonStream

Guest
Talk
2014

8th Annual Directv Celebrity Beach Bowl

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2014

Unguarded With Rachel Nichols

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2013

Game Changers With Kevin Frazier

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2013

Prekick Show

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2013

The Arsenio Hall Show

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Show
2013

Bethenny

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Talk
2013

White T

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Prime Time
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2013

Steve Harvey

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Talk
2012

Live! With Kelly and Michael

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2012

Larry King NowStream

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2012

The Soul ManStream

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Himself
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2012

The Chew

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Talk
2011

The Talk

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Talk
2010

Access Hollywood Live

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Show
2010

NFL GameDay Overtime

Actor
Show
2010

Thursday Night Kickoff

Actor
Show
2009

The LeagueStream

Guest Star
Himself
Series
2009
81%

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

Guest
Talk
2009

NFL GameDay Highlights

Actor
Show
2008

NFL GameDay Final

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2008

Celebrity Family Feud

Contestant
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2008

Our World With Black Enterprise

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2006

Rachael Ray ShowStream

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2006

The Tyra Show

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2005

The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson

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Talk
2005

Fashion Police

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Reality
2004

35th Annual Gospel Music Awards

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2004

Steve Harvey's Big Time Challenge

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2003

Jimmy Kimmel Live!Stream

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Talk
2003

Dr. PhilStream

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Talk
2002

The New American Sportsman

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2002

The View

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Talk
1997

Access Hollywood

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News
1996

Arli$$Stream

Guest Star
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1996
62%

MoeshaStream

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1996

Celtic PrideStream

Self
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1996
12%

In the HouseStream

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1995

Walker, Texas RangerStream

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1993

Entertainment Tonight

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1981

Good Morning America

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1975

Saturday Night LiveStream

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1975

60 MinutesStream

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1968

Today

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1952

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