Dads and 90s Dudes, here’s a fact: This new generation of sports fans discovering “Coach Prime” for the first time have no idea what peak 90s, full swagger Deion was like. I’m talking about Neon Deion, AKA, Prime Time, AKA, football/baseball Deion Sanders, one of the most bankable, sound-bytable, highlight-reel making sports stars in modern history. If you don’t know, I’ll tell you. This is how Deion Sanders in his prime was more fun than Coach Prime.
Kids, do you know who was the only non-quarterback NFL star to host Saturday Night Live solo between 1979 and 2019?
Deion Sanders.
How about the only NFL player to have commercials with both Denis Leary and Dennis Hopper?
Deion Sanders.
And which Cowboy starred in a national TV campaign for Pizza Hut with the team’s owner, Jerry Jones?
Not Troy. Not Michael. Not Emmitt.
Deion Sanders.
When it came to show time, there was Prime Time and there was everybody else.
Sanders graced 5 Sports Illustrated covers, was the subject of a then-coveted Playboy Magazine interview (Neon Deion: Interview with a Prime Time Prima Donna), had his own video game for Sega Sports called, of course, Prime Time, and was a national pitchman for Burger King, American Express, Nike, Pizza Hut and Wheaties. You couldn’t take your eyes off him if you tried.
On the game’s biggest stage at Super Bowl XXX, it’s no surprise Americans saw Deion’s presence everywhere.
Kick returns? Deion.
Punt returns? Deion.
Disrupting passes (his specialty)? Deion.
What about commercial breaks? Deion.
Don’t look down or you’d miss him zoom past Wile E. Coyote starring in his roadrunner role in a Pepsi commercial.
Tune back into the game and you see a long deep ball. Who catches it?
You guessed it. Deion
Deion wasn’t just a baller; he was a brand and influencer before athletes were taught to think of themselves as brands and influencers
And he was doing this 30 years ago (35 if you count FSU)…
This is why Deion Sanders in his prime was more fun than Coach Prime.
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If you’re still feeling nostalgic about 90s sports icons, you’ll want to read this story, which got over 10.1 million views on Twitter/X alone:
How ESPN’s SportsCenter United a Generation in the 90s
And you’ll 100% enjoy several of my books:
The Athlete: Greatness, Grace and the Unprecedented Life of Charlie Ward
‘Nique: The Electrifying, High-Flying Career of Dominique Wilkins
Check out Jon Finkel’s full library of columns, interviews and blogs here.