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Colorado head coach Deion Sanders looks on in the first half of the team's spring practice NCAA college football game Saturday, April 22, 2023, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) (David Zalubowski/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Former Cowboy Deion Sanders broke barriers and set milestones as a pro football and baseball player. Now he's attempting to turn the Colorado football program into a champion, in his own "Prime Time" kind of way.
Here are 10 things you might not know about the former Cowboys cornerback and Pro Football Hall of Famer.
1. The basics
Full name: Deion Luwynn Sanders
Current role: Head football coach at Colorado
Previous roles: NFL cornerback (1989-2000, 2004-05); MLB outfielder (1989-1995, 1997, 2001); High school football coach/offensive coordinator (2012-20); Jackson State head football coach (2020-22), Trinity Christian-Cedar Hill offensive coordinator (2017-2020)
2. All-time athlete
Sanders was an all-state performer in football, basketball and baseball at North Fort Myers High School. In 1985, he was named to the Florida High School Association All-Century Team. He was drafted in the sixth round of the 1985 MLB draft by the Kansas City Royals but did not sign with the team. Sanders played football (two-time All-American), baseball and ran track at Florida State. He was the fifth overall draft pick in 1989 by the Atlanta Falcons. He currently works as an analyst for CBS Sports and the NFL Network.
3. Coach Prime
Sanders, also known as Coach Prime, officially made the jump to the FBS level on Dec. 3, 2022, when he was announced as the 28th head football coach at Colorado. As coach at Jackson State, he won two consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference titles and put up a 27-6 record in three seasons.
In his first season at the helm of the Buffaloes, Colorado finished 4–8 with a 1–8 record in conference play.
They made a sharp improvement in 2024, however, thanks to future first-round pick Travis Hunter and Sanders' son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders. The Buffs finished 9-4 and finished higher in the Big 12 standings than they had since 2005.
2025 will be an intriguing season for Colorado and Coach Prime in the post-Hunter/Shedeur era.
4. Almost the Cowboys coach?
Sanders was a legitimate candidate to be the next Dallas Cowboys head coach after the team dismissed Mike McCarthy in the winter of 2025.
Jerry Jones spoke with Sanders in January in what seemed to be the Cowboys' owner kicking the tires and gauging Sanders' interest in the gig.
In the end, though, Prime stuck with his Buffs.
"After you hang up, and process it, and think about it, it's intriguing," Sanders admitted at the time. "But I love Boulder and everything there is about our team, the coaches, our student body and the community."
Instead the Cowboys went with Brian Schottenheimer, who on the surface appears to be a stark difference from the boisterous Coach Prime.
5. Medical issues, cancer battle
Sanders has dealt with a number of medical issues in recent years, most recently his battle with bladder cancer. Sanders announced the diagnosis in July 2025 after he had already undergone surgery and been declared "cured" by his oncologist.
"It was tough. It wasn't a cakewalk. It wasn't easy," said Sanders, who held a news conference to announce the diagnosis wearing a cowboy hat and overalls along with sunglasses, which he took off after getting choked up. "That was a fight, but we made it."
Related:Deion Sanders had bladder cancer. What to know about a disease that’s more common in men
Fast forward to 2026 and he considers himself cancer-free.
“I consider myself cancer-free," thanks to robotic surgery that also reconstructed his bladder using part of his intestine, Sanders told The Associated Press after getting a tutorial in the surgical system that was used in his operation.
“I was fighting” in 2025, Sanders recalled. "I was walking out on the property with a bag of blood and also urine and trying to get back. But this expedited the process. Last year at this time I was in a whole different place, and I'm just thankful.”
Sanders has also dealt with issues relating to his left foot, having two toes amputated in 2021.
He underwent surgery for a blood clot in his leg in June of 2023. That July, he had successful surgery to remove a blood clot from his right leg and another procedure to straighten the toes on his left foot.
6. The 'Deion Sanders rule'
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Florida States Deion Sanders (2) intercepts a fourth quarter Reggie Slack pass to Lawyer Tillman (85) which ended the Tigers hopes for a come-from-behind victory at the Sugar Bowl, Monday, Jan. 2, 1989, New Orleans, La. The Seminoles held on to win 13-7. (AP Photo) (Anonymous/AP)
Sanders was a two-time All-American cornerback (1987 and 1988) at FSU. He won the Jim Thorpe award and led the nation in punt return average in 1988. Sanders played in the 1989 Sugar Bowl despite having not attended classes or taken final exams during the fall 1988 semester at Florida State. Florida later passed a law known as the "Deion Sanders rule" that would prohibit football players at state universities from playing in postseason games if they did not successfully complete the previous semester.
7. Helping out
On Sept. 2, 2005, in response to Hurricane Katrina, 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 total.
Sanders said, "Through unity, we can touch thousands. I have friends and relatives that feel this pain. Help in any way you can."
He also tried to adopt a troubled high school running back named Noel Devine. Sanders was making plans to adopt Devine and bring him to live at his home in Prosper, Texas. As paperwork to complete the transfer of guardianship was nearing completion, Devine took one of Sanders' vehicles, drove to D/FW International Airport, left the keys in the car and boarded a plane to Fort Myers … In the summer of 2007, Sanders opened his home for the summer to nine children, ranging in age from 3 to 18. Most came from families without a father in the home.
8. Cold, cold, cold
Sanders once dumped three buckets of cold water on CBS announcer Tim McCarver in apparent retaliation for remarks McCarver made during the 1992 National League Championship Series. With his sponsor, Nike, partially paying for the trip, Sanders flew out of Pittsburgh after Game 4 of the NLCS to join the Atlanta Falcons, who played the Dolphins on Sunday in Miami. After the football game, Sanders jetted back to Pittsburgh for Game 5.
McCarver said of Sanders: "There's been a lot of talk that he's a consummate team player. Well, if he's that, how can he leave the playoffs and go play a football game? … Why should the income from the shoe contracts take precedence over the allegiance to the ballclub?"
McCarver said the incident in the Braves' locker room was a "deliberate, cowardly act" by Sanders.
"I'm in a vulnerable position up there. I'm holding a microphone and I have a wire with an IFB (earpiece) in my ear."
Sanders responded on TNT, saying, "How can you be a coward for throwing water on someone? This guy didn't want us to win and we did. We were throwing water on everybody. He just got wetter than anybody else. It's flat ignorant of him. He's more of a coward."
Click here to see the video.
9. Fun facts
Prime Time, the nickname, came from a high school buddy, Richard Fain, who came up with it after watching Sanders score 30 points in a basketball game … Deion Sanders once bought his mother, Connie Knight, a Mercedes, he also got her a personalized license plate that says "Ms. Time." … When Atlanta Braves pitcher Steve Avery once asked Sanders to retool his wardrobe for him, Sanders came back with clothes that cost Avery $6,000 … Sanders' lucky, game-day underwear is stenciled with huge dollar signs … Sanders still prizes the memory of his Pop Warner football team winning the national championship. He was 8 years old, and he was not a star on that team. A former high school coach remembers him as a spindly 125-pound sophomore … "It's all a big show," says Connie Knight, Deion Sanders' mother. "He's not even talkative when he's not being Prime Time." … at Florida State, he was known as Neon Deion. He wore a tuxedo to his final game, against arch-rival Florida, and pulled up in a stretch limo … Chili's once offered A FREE MEAL if he signed with the Cowboys.
10. The Good Book
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ORG XMIT: DN106 Dallas Cowboys cornerback Deion Sanders, dances during his 'Prime Time Tuesday' Bible study service in Plano, Texas, on Tuesday, April 28, 1998. The Tuesday gatherings have grown to about 400 worshippers through nothing more than word of mouth. The sessions draws a diverse mix of ethnic origin and ages. (DARNELL JEAN/AP)
Sanders was one of the leaders of the Cowboys' Bible-study group during the 1998 season.
"For all of ye laboring in the training room, come on," Sanders would exclaim over the loud speaker. "This is the second call for bible study. Brother, come one, come all."
Every week, anywhere from 12 to 15 players would carve 30 minutes out of their lunch break to study God's word. Different speakers were asked to attend. Area pastors and members of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes would drop by Valley Ranch to take part.
"Some guys are bleeding inside," Sanders said. "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 [media] see them as an interview. I see them as something different than that."
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