If there is one blemish on Deion Sanders’ high-profile career, it’s his infamous moment with CBS Sports analyst Tim McCarver, when Coach Prime poured ice-cold water over the analyst not once, not twice, but thrice.
It all started when, in October 1992, Sanders attempted to play both an NFL and an MLB game on the same day. He played for the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday afternoon and then flew to Pittsburgh to join the Braves’ NLCS game that evening. However, he didn’t play the baseball game.
This led to CBS Sports commentator and former MLB catcher Tim McCarver criticizing Sanders on-air, claiming his actions were a potential “breach of contract.” McCarver claimed that Sanders had the obligation to prioritize baseball over football. This didn’t sit well with Deion, as he went on to the locker room where the CBS crew was present and threw ice-cold water over McCarver thrice during interviews.
This infamous moment was later documented in ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary “Deion’s Double Play” in February 2019. In the video, Sanders told his side of the story.
“What am I going to do? Go knock him out? Go swing on him? Then I’m going to jail,” Sanders said. I’m not going to do that. I just wanted to bring him down a little bit. I just wanted to cool him off a little bit.”
How did Tim McCarver react to Deion Sanders’ actions at the time?
Despite Deion Sanders’ regrettable actions, Tim McCarver kept his cool and didn’t further the situation during his time. After Sanders drenched him in cold water in the locker room, he only lauded Deion, saying he’s a “real man.” At the time, talking about the situation, McCarver said:
“I didn’t exactly know what I would do,” said McCarver. “But when I saw him I said, ‘you know, Deion, you’re a real man, you are a real man.’ I thought it was a deliberate, cowardly act. It was obviously in retaliation for the remarks I made about him on Sunday night for playing two sports.”
Previously, Sanders had avoided CBS altogether because of the incident.
“I’m not doing anything with CBS,” Sanders said. “Next question… It ain’t got nothing to do with you. It’s above that. It ain’t got nothing to do with you. I’ve got love for you. I appreciate and respect you. It ain’t got nothing to do with you. They know what they did.”
Deion Sanders has now come a long way and even Tim McCarver has moved on.
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