Writing #1
Deion Sanders was a three-sport athlete in high school also in college, and a two sport athlete in the pros. In high school he was selected to the all-state team in football, basketball, and baseball. He was two-time All-American at Florida State and won numerous awards in the pros. He was the second player in history to play both offense and defense in the NFL and being the only player in history to play in both a Super Bowl and a World Series game, and to play a football and baseball game in the same day.
In college he was one of the greatest athletes of all time. In his freshmen year he was starting at free safety on the football field, was starting outfielder in baseball, and was a part of the track and field team that won a couple of conference championships. In 1986 he was selected for third team All-American. In 1987 and 1988 he was an All-American cornerback winning the Jim Thorpe Award in 1988. He also led the nation in punt return yards and broke the school records leaving him arguably the best cornerback in college football. He also helped win the Sugar Bowl in 1988 with his last second interception to seal the game. On the baseball field his batting average was .331 and had 27 stolen bases in1987. In track and field he ran in the 4x100.
In 1989 he was drafted to the Atlanta Falcons and to the New York Yankees. He was the one of the first man in history to be a two-sport athlete in the pros, where he spent five consecutive seasons the Falcons and two wit the Yankees. He played with other teams in the NFL such as the 49ers, Cowboys, Redskins, and the Ravens. In MLB he played with the Braves and the Reds.
In his time in the NFL, he started off in Atlanta with the Falcons where he led the league in kickoff return yards with 1,067, yards per return averaging 26.7, and in return touchdowns he had 2. Over a 5-year span with the Falcons he got ten touchdowns which were three defensive, three kick returns, two punt returns and two receptions. In 1994 he signed a 1 year, $1 million dollar contract with the 49ers where he recorded 6 interceptions returning them for 303 yards and 3 touchdowns. Deion also won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award that year. In 1995, he signed a 7 year, $35 million dollar contract including a $12.55 million signing bonus with the Cowboys to make him the highest paid defensive player in the NFL.
With an arthroscopic surgery leaving him sidelined for eight weeks, he came back strong in week nine against the falcons. In nine games of that season, he intercepted two passes for thirty-four yards and only had one punt return for fifty-four yards. In1997 he became the NFL all-time leader in interceptions for touchdowns with 14. His first retirement was in 2001 with Redskins which he later came back to the league in 2004 resigning with the Baltimore Ravens where he signed a 1 year, 1.5 million dollar contract.
His baseball career started the same year as his football with his first team, the New York Yankees where he batted .234 in fourteen games. He was later traded to the Atlanta Braves where he batted .304 and led the league with 14 triples in 97 games and stole twenty-eight bases. He had his most outstanding season earning him the National League triple leader. Then in 1997 he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds where he hung up his cleats to concentrate more on football.