Deion Sanders has a lot of children in this world. I am not hinting at some breaking news of an illegitimate child or for that matter discussing anything negative. What I am talking about is the man broke away from the status-quo and took confidence to another level.
In doing so, he indirectly raised a lot of young black men born in the 1980s and 1990s. Single parent households are an unfortunate harsh reality in too many African-American homes. Regardless of what Charles Barkley says, sports figures are role models and Deion Sanders is kinda my daddy and I’m sure a lot more 20 somethings would claim him as well.
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Primetime taught us how to be confident in ourselves. Quoted as saying ‘The first thing people say is don’t let the money change you, but personally the money is going to change my address, my phone number, my car, it’s going to change my sneakers into gators, and my library card into a credit card’.
When I think of bravado I think of Deion Sanders. While there have been many iconic figures in football in the past 15 to 20 years, who stands out more than Primetime? Swagger is an overused term, but fits Prime in every way possible.
Who is the only athlete in history to have appeared in both the World Series and the Super Bowl? Who is the only pro athlete to hit a homer and score a touchdown in the same week?
Who scored so often he invented his own dance on touchdown runs and didn’t even play offense for the most part of his career? Who played another pro sport (Baseball) as a hobby? The answer to all these questions is simple Deion ‘Prime Time’ Sanders.
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Deion was pitchman for Nike and Visa, cashed in on a flamboyant, jewelry-laden persona that was not limited to the playing field. As a Florida State senior, Sanders arrived for his final climatic home game against Florida in a white limousine. He emerged wearing a tuxedo.
Deion was known to draw a $ sign in the dirt before hitting in MLB baseball games. This act alone is enough to elicit a swag hall of fame nomination. Deion was not conceited he was convinced, just watch his ‘Must Be The Money’ video if you think it was an act. All of the ‘extra’ stuff Deion did aside, the lesson learned from him was to be yourself and back up whatever it is you say.
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While some may view Deion as a braggart and a fool, he provided the impetus for confidence for a lot of young men in our society. No single role model is responsible for any one child or for that matter a generation of them.
However, long before the song came out Deion was ‘Swag Surfing’ and if you look at society today it resembles Deion in the late 1980’s and 1990’s more than any other star during this time.
Even the great Michael Jordan could no
