Professional athletes all have a special talent that very few people possess. Still others have a talent that can just be described as a freak of nature. A few athletes come to mind \u2013 two-sport stars Bo Jackson and Brian Jordan and baseball Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, who was drafted by all three major sports out of college. But one of the best was without a doubt Deion Sanders.<\/p>\n
Nicknamed \u201cPrime Time\u201d during his All-America football days at Florida State, Deion\u00a0 is the only athlete to have ever played in both a Super Bowl and World Series. He is considered one of the greatest cover cornerbacks ever. He played for the Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins and Baltimore Ravens, winning the Super Bowl with the 49ers and Cowboys. He was a nine-time All-Pro and was named to the 1990\u2019s NFL All-Decade Team.<\/p>\n
In Major League Baseball, he played a nine-year, part-time career, participating in 641 games with four teams \u2013 the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants. During the 1989 season, he became the first player in history to hit a home run and score a touchdown in the same week.<\/p>\n
Deion was considered a better football player than baseball player. His reputation was so great that opposing offensive coordinators almost always specifically accounted for him in their game plan.[He was widely known to shut down \u201chis\u201d half of the field, causing most quarterbacks to essentially ignore the receiver he was covering. He allegedly ran a 4.16 in the 40-yard dash, making him the second fastest in the NFL to Darrell Green.<\/p>\n
Deion also occasionally played offense. He and Bill Dudley are the only players in NFL history to score a touchdown six different ways – interception return, punt return, kickoff return, receiving, rushing and a fumble recovery.<\/p>\n
Deion will mostly be remembered by his \u201cPrime Time\u201d persona and for “high-stepping” it into the end zone followed by his touchdown dance celebrations. The interesting thing about \u201cPrime Time\u201d was that it was just a marketing ploy. He used it to become not only a fan favorite but also one of the highest-paid athletes of his time.<\/p>\n
Deion had some difficult times in the late 1990\u2019s that led to him becoming born-again and an ordained minister. He also wrote an interesting book published in 1998\u00a0 entitled \u201cPower, Money & Sex: How Success Almost Ruined My Life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, Deion is a analyst for the NFL Network. He\u2019s also an a highly-acclaimed Christian Speaker and motivational sports speaker. I recently hired him to speak at a client\u2019s sales meeting and he received higher ratings for his speech than any other speaker.<\/p>\n