Deion Sanders, widely regarded as one of the NFL’s greatest players, still feels a void when reflecting on his baseball career. Despite playing nine seasons in Major League Baseball, Sanders admits he could have given more effort to the sport.
He appeared as an outfielder for the Yankees, Braves, Reds and Giants, making his MLB debut on May 31, 1989, and his final appearance on June 14, 2001. Over his career, he recorded a .263 batting average, 39 home runs, 168 RBIs and 186 stolen bases — solid numbers, yet not enough to erase a lingering sense of incompleteness.
Despite NFL Greatness, Deion Sanders Feels His Baseball Career Incomplete
Sanders, known today as “Coach Prime,” has built an extraordinary legacy in football, yet his heart still lingers on the baseball diamond. During an appearance on Skip 1 on 1, Sanders reflected on his dual-sport career, revealing that despite his NFL dominance, his time in MLB still feels unfinished.
“I’ve always been that way. I’ve always been naysayed my whole life,” Sanders said.
Even as he made a name for himself in football, he admitted baseball remains on his mind.
“I think about baseball. I still have baseball dreams — I still have those dreams, really, because it’s like it was incomplete, like I wanted to do better.”
His love for baseball runs deep, though he acknowledged the sacrifices of balancing two professional sports.
“If I had to give more, that means I would have been taken away from the other game,” he said.
Sanders noted that for years, he played only half of the football season to fully commit to baseball. His contracts even included clauses that allowed him to leave for the NFL once his MLB team was mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Despite the flexibility, the feeling of incompleteness has never gone away.
He believes his ability to juggle both sports wasn’t just talent — it was something more.
“God gave me equilibrium to balance things in life simultaneously, and that’s a tremendous gift. That’s not a talent — that’s a gift,” he said.
Even with that gift, baseball remains the one part of his athletic career where he feels he left something on the table.
“That’s the sport that I — I — I’m upset with myself at, because I’m like, darn it, boy, I wish I could have given it a little more.”
MORE: Latest 2025 NFL Mock Draft has Shedeur Sanders at No. 2
His football achievements are indisputable, but when it comes to baseball, he still wonders what might have been.
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