Sanders played college football as a cornerback for the Florida State Seminoles, winning the Jim Thorpe Award in 1988 before being selected by the Falcons fifth overall in the 1989 NFL draft. He also played as a return specialist and occasionally as a wide receiver during his NFL career, receiving six first-team All-Pros and nine Pro Bowl honors. He won Super Bowl XXIX with the 49ers and Super Bowl XXX with the Cowboys. Sanders was inducted into the College Football and Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
Known as "Prime Time" in his playing days and later "Coach Prime", Sanders briefly worked as an analyst for NFL Network before coaching high school players throughout the 2010s. In 2020, Sanders was named head coach of the Jackson State Tigers, leading them to two consecutive Celebration Bowl appearances and the school's first undefeated regular season in 2022. Sanders was named Colorado head coach in 2023. His sons Shilo and Shedeur played for him with Jackson State and Colorado.
Sanders had a nine-year, part-time baseball career, playing left and center field in 641 games with four teams. He was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the sixth round of the 1985 draft, but did not sign with them. The New York Yankees selected Sanders in the 30th round of the 1988 Major League Baseball draft, and he signed with the team on June 22. He batted .284 in 28 minor league games after signing.
The Yankees invited Sanders to spring training in 1989. Assigned to wear no. 71 as a uniform number, Sanders requested a single digit number. The Yankees gave him no. 30, the lowest number available, which offended many veteran players on the team. Sanders opened the 1989 season with the Albany-Colonie Yankees of the Double–A Eastern League. Though Sanders planned to leave the Yankees in July to attend NFL training camp, he became embroiled in a contract dispute with the Falcons, and used the Yankees as leverage.
Sanders received a promotion to the major leagues, and spent the summer with the Columbus Clippers of the Triple–A International League. Sanders made his MLB debut on May 31, 1989.
At the 1989 NFL Scouting Combine, Sanders ran the 40-yard dash with times of 4.27s and 4.29s. seconds. He was the fifth pick overall in the 1989 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons,where he played until 1993. Despite fumbling (and recovering) his first NFL punt return (which was re-kicked on a penalty), Sanders ran for a touchdown on his second attempt of his first game. During his time in Atlanta, he intercepted 24 passes (including a career-high seven in 1993), three of which he returned for touchdowns. In 1992, he also led the league in kick return yards (1,067), yards per return (26.7) and return touchdowns (two). On October 11, 1992, Sanders played in a Falcons game in Miami and then flew to Pittsburgh, hoping to play in the Braves' League Championship Series game against the Pirates that evening and become the first athlete to play in two professional leagues in the same day. Sanders, however did not appear in the baseball game that night. During his five years playing with the Falcons, Sanders scored 10 touchdowns (three defensive, three kick returns, two punt returns, and two receptions).
During the 1989 season, Sanders hit a home run and scored a touchdown in the NFL in the same week, becoming the only player ever to do so. Sanders is also the only person to play in both a Super Bowl and a World Series. Sanders and Bo Jackson were the preeminent multi-sport athletes of their time, but prior to the 1990 season, they had never squared off against each other in a professional game. That changed in 1990, when Jackson and Sanders met five times on the diamond—the most memorable of which came on July 17, in what was billed as "The Bo and Prime Time Show". After Bo Jackson's three-homer night, Sanders said, "He's (Bo's) one of the best athletes who ever put on a uniform." Sanders himself hit a dramatic inside-the-park home run in the same game that was unsuccessfully fielded by Jackson.
Sanders made the Yankees' Opening Day roster for the 1990 season. On May 22, 1990, Sanders became involved in a dispute with Chicago White Sox catcher Carlton Fisk. Sanders started by stepping up to the plate with one out and a runner on third, drawing a dollar sign in the dirt before the pitch and then failed to run to first base after hitting a routine pop fly to shortstop, trotting back to the dugout instead. The Yankee fans booed, and Fisk told Sanders to run the ball out and called Sanders a "piece of shit". Later in the game, Sanders told Fisk that "the days of slavery are over". Fisk was furious, later saying: "He comes up and wants to make it a racial issue, there's no racial issue involved. There is a right way and a wrong way to play this game."
By mid-July, Sanders expressed that he was unsure if he would remain with the Yankees or report to training camp for the upcoming NFL season. He requested a $1 million salary for the 1991 season, and the Yankees ended negotiations on a contract extension with Sanders. He left the team, finishing the 1990 season with a .158 batting average and three home runs in 57 games. In September 1990, the Yankees placed Sanders on waivers with the intention of giving him his release, as Yankees' general manager Gene Michael said that Sanders' football career was stunting his baseball development.
Sanders later signed with the Atlanta Braves for the 1991 MLB season. On July 31, Sanders hit a key three-run homer to spark a comeback win against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the Braves' run to the National League West Division title. However, he left the Braves the very next day to report to the Atlanta Falcons because of a clause in his NFL contract and missed the postseason. Before the 1992 season, Sanders reworked his NFL deal, whereby he still reported to the Falcons for training camp in August, but was allowed to rejoin the Braves for the postseason.
During the 1992 season, his best year in the majors, Sanders hit .304 for the team, stole 26 bases, and led the NL with 14 triples in 97 games. In four games of the 1992 World Series, Sanders batted .533 with four runs, eight hits, two doubles, and one RBI while playing with a broken bone in his foot. His batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, total bases and win probability added each led the team in the series. Despite Sanders' performance, the Braves ultimately lost to the Toronto Blue Jays in six games. In Game 3, he narrowly avoided being a victim of what would have been only the second triple play in World Series history (following Bill Wambsganss' unassisted triple play in 1920). With Sanders on second base and Terry Pendleton on first, David Justice hit a deep fly ball to center field that Blue Jays center fielder Devon White unexpectedly caught with a leaping effort. Pendleton passed Sanders on the bases for the second out, but umpire Bob Davidson called Sanders safe after he scampered back to second base. Replays showed that Toronto third baseman Kelly Gruber tagged him on the heel before he returned to second.
The Braves traded Sanders to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Roberto Kelly on May 30, 1994. In 46 games played, Sanders batted .277 and stole 19 bases. The following year, he played in 33 games for the Reds, recording a .240 batting average with 16 stolen bases before being traded to the San Francisco Giants.
After five seasons with Atlanta, Sanders signed on to play the 1994 season with the San Francisco 49ers. He had arguably his best season as a professional football player, recording six interceptions and returning them for an NFL-best 303 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 50.5 yards per return. (Average yards per interception return is not an official NFL statistic however.) It was also the most interception return yardage in a single-season since Charlie McNeil in 1961. Two of his interceptions were returned for a gain of at least 90 yards, making him the first player to do this in NFL history. On October 16, 1994, Sanders made his dramatic return to the Georgia Dome in a 49er uniform. After getting into a scuffle with his former Falcon teammate Andre Rison, Sanders intercepted a pass from quarterback Jeff George and returned it 93 yards while mockingly staring down the entire Falcons sideline before high-stepping into the end zone. Sanders was later voted the 1994 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. In Super Bowl XXIX, he recorded an end zone interception in the fourth quarter as the 49ers won over the San Diego Chargers, earning him his first championship ring.
On July 21, 1995, the Reds traded Sanders, Dave McCarty, Ricky Pickett, John Roper, and Scott Service to the San Francisco Giants for Dave Burba, Darren Lewis, and Mark Portugal. He batted .280, hit 5 home runs and stole 8 bases in 52 games for the Giants.
Sanders, along with his agent Eugene Parker, courted several teams in need of a cornerback. The teams in the "Deion Sweepstakes", as it was called by the media, were the Philadelphia Eagles, Oakland Raiders, Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints, San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys, who had lost their starting cornerback Kevin Smith to injury for the rest of the season.
On September 9, 1995, (in week 2 of the season), Sanders signed a lucrative contract with the Dallas Cowboys (seven years, $35 million with a $12.99 million signing bonus, because owner Jerry Jones was superstitious about the number 13), essentially making him at the time, the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL. Sanders later stated in his book Power, Money & Sex: How Success Almost Ruined My Life that the Oakland Raiders offered him more money than any other team, but he chose to play in Dallas for more time on the offensive side of the ball, a chance to win back-to-back Super Bowls, and because of his friendship with Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin. Arthroscopic surgery kept him sidelined until his debut in week 9, which was once again in Atlanta against the Falcons; the Cowboys won, 28–13. He went on to help the Cowboys win their third title in four years in Super Bowl XXX against the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he returned a punt for 11 yards and caught a 47-yard reception on offense, setting up Dallas's first touchdown of the game and a 27–17 victory. Sanders played four more seasons with Dallas, earning Pro Bowl selection in all of them. On June 2, 2000, he was released in a salary-cap move.
Soon after the Cowboys released Sanders, the Washington Redskins signed Sanders to a seven-year, $56 million contract. At the end of the 2000 season and an above-average statistical year, Sanders abruptly retired in July 2001 after only playing one year with the Redskins.
On December 23, 2002, the Redskins waived Sanders from the reserve/retired list in order to potentially allow him to play for the Oakland Raiders in the 2002–03 NFL playoffs. If he had passed through waivers unclaimed, he would have been able to sign a free-agent contract with any team and play during the season. However, on December 25, five teams (the Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Diego Chargers and Tennessee Titans) placed waiver bids for him, with the Chargers claiming him by having the highest waiver priority. Since it was too late in the season to be activated from the reserve/retired list, he was unable to play for the Chargers for the rest of the season.
Sanders returned to the Reds in 2001, but was released after playing in only 32 games and batting just .173. After Sanders' release from the Reds, he signed a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, who assigned him to the Triple-A Syracuse SkyChiefs.
Sanders' football contract had been negotiated to allow for him to play both baseball and football, but the terms of the contract stated that Sanders could miss NFL training camp and the first few games of the season only if he were playing Major League Baseball. Since he was not then on an MLB roster, Sanders had to leave Syracuse and return to the Washington Redskins so he would not violate his NFL contract. In his final professional baseball game, Sanders hit a solo home run and an RBI single in Syracuse's 12–6 win over the Toledo Mud Hens. As those in MLB and the NFL urged Sanders to concentrate on only one sport (similar to what they did with Bo Jackson), he often explained, "football is my wife and baseball is my mistress."
In 2004, Sanders announced his intention to come out of retirement after being convinced by his friend Joe Zorovich, Baltimore Ravens cornerback Corey Fuller, and linebacker Ray Lewis to play. He signed a one-year deal with the Ravens to be a nickelback. Sanders chose to wear the number 37, which matched his age at the time, to preemptively let people know that he was well aware of his relative senior status as an NFL player (additionally, his usual number 21 was already being worn by Ravens Pro Bowl cornerback Chris McAlister). Against the Buffalo Bills in week 7 of 2004, Sanders scored his ninth career interception return touchdown, moving him into a tie with Ken Houston and Aeneas Williams, and behind Rod Woodson (with 12), for second place all-time in the statistical category.
While continuing to work as an NFL analyst, Sanders became the head coach for the Prime Prep Academy, which he co-founded. The executive director of the school twice tried to fire Sanders, in one instance after witnesses said Sanders grabbed a school official by the collar, causing the official to fall to the floor. He stayed as the head coach for 2012 and 2013. The school was shut down in 2015 amid a spate of problems.
In 2015, he was hired as the head coach for Triple A Academy, where he was the coach for two seasons.
In 2017, he became the offensive coordinator for Trinity Christian High School giving him the opportunity to coach his sons Shilo and Shedeur Sanders, along with his eldest son Deion Jr.
On September 21, 2020, Deion Sanders became the 21st head coach of the Jackson State Tigers of the historically black (HBCU) Jackson State University. The Tigers play in the second level of NCAA football, the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). In his first season in spring 2021, abbreviated and delayed from its normally intended fall 2020 schedule due to COVID-19 disruptions, he led the Tigers to a 4–3 record, with one win by forfeit.
In the fall 2021 season, Sanders led the Tigers to the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) title and a program record of 11 wins, also being named the recipient of the fall 2021 Eddie Robinson Award as the season's top FCS head coach. Jackson State went on to play in the 2021 Celebration Bowl where they were defeated by South Carolina State 31–10. The following season, Jackson State again played in the Celebration Bowl where they were again defeated 41–34 by North Carolina Central, bringing Coach Sanders' overall bowl record to 0–2.
Sanders notably flipped the recruitment of defensive back Travis Hunter who was the number one overall recruit in the 2022 class. Hunter initially committed to Sanders' alma mater Florida State. The move was heralded by recruiting director Steve Wiltfong; he said it was "the biggest signing day moment in the history of college football" as Football Championship Subdivision programs and the HBCUs that compete at such a level of competition are not usual destinations for high level recruits out of high school. Hunter was the first five-star recruit to sign with an FCS program. Not only did Sanders attract high-level recruits for HBCUs, he increased revenue for these once low funded teams and put HBCUs on the map. Sanders paid for meals and training facilities out of his own pocket.
On December 3, 2022, Sanders was named the head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes. Sanders made extensive use of the transfer portal in replacing nearly the Buffaloes' entire roster, with 46 players leaving in the transfer portal and 50 transferring in. Nine followed him from Jackson State, including sons Shedeur and Shilo, and former five-star recruit Hunter. After going 1–11 in the previous season, Colorado won their first three games of the 2023 season, then lost their next two, then recorded their only conference win of the season. Colorado finished the season 4–8 with a 1–8 record in Pac-12 play.
Colorado entered the 2024 season with a projected win total of 5.5 wins. They ultimately finished the regular season 9–3, tied for 1st in the Big 12 conference, but missing the conference championship game due to tiebreakers. CB/WR Travis Hunter won the Heisman trophy for Colorado, with QB Shedeur Sanders finishing 8th in Heisman voting. The team lost to BYU in the Alamo Bowl. Following the strong season, Colorado retired the jerseys of Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders.
On March 28, 2025, Sanders agreed to a five-year, $54 million contract extension with Colorado.
During his 14-year NFL career, Sanders was a perennial All-Pro and considered by many as one of, if not the strongest pass defenders ever to play the game.
Sanders also occasionally lined up with the team's offense. During the 1996 season, Sanders skipped the baseball season, concentrating on football, and attended the first NFL training camp of his career to better familiarize himself with the nuances of the wide receiver position. He became only the second two-way starter (after the Cardinals' Roy Green) in the NFL since Chuck Bednarik.
Sanders is the only man to play in both a Super Bowl and a World Series, to hit an MLB home run and score an NFL touchdown in the same week, and to have both a reception and an interception in the Super Bowl. He is one of seven players to win back-to-back Super Bowls with different teams. He is also one of two players to score an NFL touchdown six different ways (interception return, punt return, kickoff return, receiving, rushing, and fumble recovery).
During his career, Sanders intercepted 53 passes for 1,331 yards (a 25.1 yards per return average), recovered four fumbles for 15 yards, returned 155 kickoffs for 3,523 yards, gained 2,199 yards on 212 punt returns, and caught 60 passes for 784 yards. Sanders amassed 7,838 all-purpose yards and scored 22 touchdowns, nine interception returns, six punt returns, three kickoff returns, three receiving, and one fumble recovery. His 19 defensive and return touchdowns was an NFL record (now held by Devin Hester with 20 return touchdowns). In the postseason Sanders added five more interceptions, as well as three receptions for 95 yards, four carries for 39 yards, and two touchdowns (one rushing and one receiving). He was selected to eight Pro Bowls and won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1994.
