Shannon Sharpe fueled the fire in the Asante Samuel-Deion Sanders debate about who was the best cornerback ever. What did the NFL Hall of Famer have to say?
Shannon Sharpe Weighs In on Deion Sanders vs. Asante Samuel Debate
Samuel has been a proponent of using the T-step technique.
“Defensive backs who involve stepping forward before planting with the opposite foot to drive into a break.”
Deion Sanders, commenting on his Colorado Buffaloes roster, said, “If one of my players does that, I’m ripping his facemask off.”
Samuel responded to Sanders on social media, calling Coach Prime’s comments “foolish.”
Sir. Foolish. Lololol God bless u my brother. Tell them what this really about sir. U forever taking a shot at the sky. Mickey Andrews is Responsible for teaching us what I teach and it sure seemed like it worked for us. Peace be Still. 🙏🏾 https://t.co/GWROxJfD2c
— COACH PRIME (@DeionSanders) March 21, 2025
He then said in his own career, despite having two fewer interceptions than Coach Prime’s 53, was 35 games shorter, and he had two more playoff INTs.
On a recent episode of Nightcap, Shannon Sharpe fired back at Samuel with his co-host, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson.
Samuel replied on X:
“That’s your problem pimp, you are also brainwashed @ShannonSharpe I’m not worried about what everyone perceives to be true , like yourself. I stand on facts and you’ve yet to talk about facts. You can easy be manipulated just like everyone has because of marketing. I bet you won’t debate me. Big facts!!!”
“You’re not in [Prime] Time’s realm,” Sharpe replaied. “Nobody will ever say Asante Samuel and Deion Sanders in the same breath.” He dismissed the reliance on stats, adding, “I don’t look at stats, I watch tape,” and referenced Darrelle Revis as a prime example of greatness with fewer career interceptions.
He added, “Did he (Samuel) make the all decade team because, Time (Sanders), made the all decade team and he is one of the hundred greatest players of all time.Let’s see his resume. Let’s see his body of work. I complemented him, I said Time don’t believe in wasted motion. The T Step worked well for Asante. I gave him a compliment.”
Sharpe also compares the two players’ teams on the show, looking at their career accomplishments, saying, “One guy was a defensive player of the year. One guy as a defensive back, swung the balance of power. How many DBs can say swung the balance of power?”
Sharpe also said that the debate should include reaching out to NFL coaches and GMs from the era when both players played and now to see who they would rather have on their team and think is the better player.
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