Deion Sanders' Unbelievable Attempt to Play Two Pro Sports in One Day

[00:00:00] On October 11, 1992, Deion Sanders almost did something that had never been done before.

[00:00:07] And it's not often that you almost do something and get recognized for it.

[00:00:10] But what he did was unheard of as he was attempting to play both an NFL football game and a Major League Baseball game all in the same day.

[00:00:22] Showing how skilled he was as an athlete.

[00:00:25] And today we're going to dive into dual sport athletes throughout the history of professional sports.

[00:00:31] How hard and amazing that can be.

[00:00:41] Welcome to Daily Sports History.

[00:00:43] I'm Ethan Reese, your guide.

[00:00:46] As you daily learn more about sports history, increasing your sports knowledge.

[00:00:52] Today's trivia question, what three sports did Deion Sanders play in college?

[00:00:59] Now growing up, most of us went to school and we were either the great athlete or you had a great athlete that was the best player in any sport they played.

[00:01:09] Whether it was football, baseball, basketball, whatever they played, they excelled in.

[00:01:14] And they were expected to be that alpha main person.

[00:01:18] But usually, as you go higher in the ranks of sports, you have to decide, do I do this sport or this sport?

[00:01:26] And for most athletes, when you get to college, you have to pick one.

[00:01:30] But there are a select group of athletes that end up going for multiple sports.

[00:01:34] And these are known as either multi-sport athletes or dual-sport athletes.

[00:01:38] And we've actually covered a few of them in past episodes.

[00:01:41] We covered stories about Jim Thorpe, who played football, baseball, and track and field.

[00:01:46] We covered Babe Dickerson Zendeja, who played basketball, golf, and track and field.

[00:01:52] And even covered Michael Jordan, who was arguably the best basketball player ever.

[00:01:57] And also attempted to play baseball as well.

[00:02:00] But there have been other great dual-sport athletes.

[00:02:04] Dave Bouchier was a Hall of Fame basketball player with the New York Knicks.

[00:02:10] And after attempting a baseball career, where he actually pledged a complete game shutout for the Chicago White Sox.

[00:02:17] And then after baseball, he would win two championships with the Knicks.

[00:02:21] And then there was Brian Jordan, who was drafted in the NFL and Major League Draft.

[00:02:26] And became a Pro Bowl.

[00:02:28] And was even named to a Pro Bowl in the NFL.

[00:02:31] But later chose to focus more on baseball.

[00:02:35] And became an all-star outfielder.

[00:02:37] And played 15 years in the Major Leagues.

[00:02:39] And then there was Bullet Bobby Hayes, who won two Olympic gold medals.

[00:02:44] And at one point was the fastest man alive.

[00:02:47] Which is a title given to the sprinter, who holds the record for the 100-meter dash.

[00:02:54] And later, he would go on to join the Dallas Cowboys.

[00:02:59] And become a Hall of Fame receiver.

[00:03:01] Being named to three Pro Bowls and two All-Pros.

[00:03:04] And winning a Super Bowl.

[00:03:05] Using his skill of speed.

[00:03:07] And showing that he also had hands.

[00:03:08] And most of us know Bo.

[00:03:10] As Bo Jackson is one of the quintessential dual sport athletes.

[00:03:15] As he was an all-star in both the NFL and Major League Baseball.

[00:03:20] And likely would have played even more football if not for the Tampa Bay Bucs.

[00:03:25] Ruining his amateurism when he was in college.

[00:03:29] Ending his college baseball career.

[00:03:31] And making him boycott the NFL for multiple years to focus on baseball.

[00:03:37] But would come back to join the Raiders.

[00:03:40] And become a pro bowler.

[00:03:42] As well as being an all-star in Major League Baseball.

[00:03:46] And then we come to our story today.

[00:03:48] With Deion Sanders.

[00:03:50] Also known as Prime Time.

[00:03:53] He grew up in Florida.

[00:03:54] And attended Florida State.

[00:03:57] Where he was a three-sport athlete.

[00:03:59] In football, baseball, and track.

[00:04:01] And in his freshman year.

[00:04:03] He was a starter on the football team.

[00:04:06] Helped take the baseball team to being ranked 5th in the nation.

[00:04:09] And led the track and field team to a conference championship.

[00:04:13] Now he was drafted by the Kansas City Royals.

[00:04:16] Out of high school.

[00:04:17] But chose to go to college.

[00:04:18] And after college he was drafted in the 30th round by the New York Yankees.

[00:04:23] Due largely to teams viewing him as more of a football player.

[00:04:28] And not thinking he would play baseball.

[00:04:29] Or wouldn't play right away.

[00:04:31] Because he was the 5th overall pick by the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL.

[00:04:36] Meaning he showed a lot more promise for the NFL.

[00:04:39] But Deion had seen what Bo Jackson was doing.

[00:04:42] And wanted to also do the same.

[00:04:45] And wanted to play in both leagues.

[00:04:46] And in doing so, he had to make a contract.

[00:04:49] He had to decide which one was more important.

[00:04:52] Because the baseball postseason overlaps with the beginning of the football regular season.

[00:04:58] And he chose to focus more on football.

[00:05:01] But if he was allowed to play baseball during the offseason.

[00:05:04] That's what he would do.

[00:05:05] And in the 1989 season.

[00:05:08] He was the first person to ever hit a home run.

[00:05:11] And score a touchdown in the NFL in the same week.

[00:05:15] And still is the only to ever do so.

[00:05:17] And the way his contract normally worked.

[00:05:19] Is he would play until the end of July.

[00:05:22] And then he would report to football.

[00:05:24] And so he often didn't play for the teams that made the postseason.

[00:05:28] But luckily in 1991.

[00:05:30] He signed with the Atlanta Braves.

[00:05:32] As he was playing football in Atlanta too.

[00:05:34] Which made it an easy thing for him to play for both teams.

[00:05:38] And before the 1992 season.

[00:05:40] He actually reworked his NFL deal.

[00:05:42] Where he made it so he would report to training camp.

[00:05:45] But was allowed to rejoin the Atlanta Braves.

[00:05:49] If they made the postseason during the season.

[00:05:51] And would play games on off game days.

[00:05:55] So Sundays he would play football.

[00:05:57] All other days he would be allowed to play baseball if there was games.

[00:06:01] And 1992 was his best year in the major leagues.

[00:06:04] He hit over 300 with 26 stolen bases in just 97 games.

[00:06:10] And the Braves had a great year.

[00:06:12] As they were working their way through the playoffs.

[00:06:14] And would eventually make it to the World Series.

[00:06:17] Making him the first person to ever play in the World Series.

[00:06:20] And in the Super Bowl.

[00:06:22] And still the only person to do that.

[00:06:24] So then comes October 11th 1992.

[00:06:29] The Atlanta Braves are making their way through the postseason.

[00:06:34] And make it to the NLCS.

[00:06:36] For the chance to make it to the World Series.

[00:06:38] And one of their best players at the time was Deion Sanders.

[00:06:41] So again on non-Sunday days he would go play for them.

[00:06:45] But they had game 5 set to be played on October 11th.

[00:06:49] Which was a Sunday.

[00:06:50] The same day the Atlanta Falcons were going to play at Miami.

[00:06:55] During a regular season game.

[00:06:57] But because the Braves baseball game was in the evening.

[00:07:02] And the football game was in the afternoon.

[00:07:05] There was a chance he could do both.

[00:07:08] And Nike stepped in to try to help this.

[00:07:10] As Nike viewed Deion as a major asset.

[00:07:13] And this could be a story that they could really sell.

[00:07:16] For their shoes, cleats, and everything they endorsed for Deion Sanders.

[00:07:20] As game 4 of the NLCS ended just before midnight.

[00:07:25] The Saturday before.

[00:07:26] And so he had to fly that night to Miami.

[00:07:29] To join the Falcons for their game against the Dolphins.

[00:07:33] And the Falcons coach Jerry Glanville really didn't like the way this setup was.

[00:07:37] He would go all week not practicing with the team.

[00:07:40] And so he wanted to set some standards for it.

[00:07:43] And he told him and the entire team in the locker room.

[00:07:46] That he would not be starting today.

[00:07:47] As this was the first time he had seen him all week.

[00:07:50] But he was such a good player.

[00:07:52] He made up for this.

[00:07:53] And he didn't start.

[00:07:55] And after one play into the game.

[00:07:57] He got put in there.

[00:07:58] Making a very hollow gesture of making him not start.

[00:08:02] Now Atlanta came up short and lost to the Dolphins 17-20.

[00:08:06] And Sanders was exhausted.

[00:08:08] He had played baseball the night before.

[00:08:10] He had played every snap except for that first one against Miami.

[00:08:13] Including returning punts.

[00:08:15] And so he was exhausted and got an IV after the game.

[00:08:18] And then hopped into a limo just before 5 to take a helicopter to the airport to catch a flight to Pittsburgh.

[00:08:26] Where they're playing the NLCS versus the Pirates with the Atlanta Braves.

[00:08:31] That's right.

[00:08:31] He went from Pittsburgh to Florida to Pittsburgh again.

[00:08:35] All in less than one day.

[00:08:36] Including playing an entire NFL game.

[00:08:39] And tried to join the team when he arrived just 16 minutes before the official start game of the NLCS Game 5.

[00:08:48] Now not only were the Falcons annoyed by this.

[00:08:50] But the Braves were also annoyed by the fact that this player was not valuing the playoffs that they were in.

[00:08:57] And Bobby Cox, the manager of the Braves, informed Sanders that he wasn't going to play.

[00:09:04] He wasn't going to start.

[00:09:05] And he wasn't going to be a part of it.

[00:09:07] And he really was only going to play if everyone else got hurt.

[00:09:10] So this is how he almost became the first person to play in two professional leagues on the same day.

[00:09:17] But he actually just suited up for two on that same very fateful day.

[00:09:22] Now Sanders was a valuable player for the team.

[00:09:25] As he hit over 500 in the four games in the World Series.

[00:09:30] But sadly, his efforts were not enough.

[00:09:32] As he was the only player for the Braves to hit over 300 in the World Series.

[00:09:36] And they would go on to lose the World Series 4-2 to the Toronto Blue Jays.

[00:09:41] But that same year, he was an all-pro for the Atlanta Falcons.

[00:09:46] And Deion would go on to play 16 years in the NFL.

[00:09:50] And play 9 years in baseball.

[00:09:52] Now he obviously had more success in football.

[00:09:55] As he is a Hall of Fame football player who won two Super Bowls.

[00:10:00] Made eight all-pros as well as eight Pro Bowl selections.

[00:10:04] Whereas in baseball, he had a career batting average of 263.

[00:10:09] With 36 home runs and 186 stolen bases.

[00:10:14] He prioritized football as that was his major sport.

[00:10:17] And it showed in his stats between baseball and football.

[00:10:23] And if you enjoyed this and you want to learn more about Atlanta sports.

[00:10:27] Check out Atlanta's Own.

[00:10:28] Where they give you an Atlanta fan perspective on all the professional Atlanta teams.

[00:10:34] Including the Braves and the Falcons that Deion was a part of in the 1990s.

[00:10:39] And we'll have a link in the description if you want to check it out.

[00:10:42] And if you want to help us out, please subscribe wherever you're listening to.

[00:10:46] So you do not miss a single episode.

[00:10:48] And we will see you next week for more daily sports history.

[00:10:53] In the answer to today's trivia question.

[00:10:56] What three sports did Deion Sanders play in college?

[00:10:59] The answer is he played football, baseball.

[00:11:03] And he was a runner on the track team.

[00:11:05] And he was a runner on the track team.