He spent 14 seasons in the NFL and played nine in the Major Leagues for various teams including the Yankees, and now, Neon Deion is both subject and star of a new ESPN documentary.
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The cornerback, outfielder and occasional wide receiver, nicknamed Prime Time, was a unique combination of flash and dash.
"To see him excel at two things was really amazing," former New York Giants defensive end-turned-TV host Michael Strahan said. "Because I know how hard one (sport) is."
Strahan, a Hall of Famer and the record holder for sacks in a season, played against Sanders several times.
"I watched Deion run back touchdowns against my Giants," he said.
It made Strahan a great choice to serve as executive producer for the new documentary, called "Deion's Double Play," about playing two sports in two different states all over the course of a few days.
Sanders gave himself the Prime Time moniker for his football acumen, but he was more low key on the baseball diamond.
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He was fond of saying that football was his "wife," but baseball was his "mistress." And Strahan reminded of another Sanders saying.
"My favorite quote from Deion is, 'You look good, you feel good. You feel good, you play good. You play good, they pay good,'" he said.
But not everyone thought Sanders should be playing two sports.
"He really let the (Atlanta) Braves down," one sportscaster says in the film.
"Deion's Double Play" is part of ESPN's "30 for 30" series, supervised by Vice President Libby Geist.
"I love reaching wives, friends, people who don't watch every 'SportsCenter' but love a good story," Geist said.
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Like so many of the other films in the series, this is a story that reveals the complex person behind the flashy persona.
"It gave me a greater appreciation for him as an athlete, but an even greater appreciation for him as a person," Strahan said. "And I always thought very highly of him in the first place."
The film is narrated by Ludacris, who grew up in Atlanta where Sanders played football for the Falcons and baseball for the Braves.
The premiere of "Deion's Double Play" is on Thursday at 9 p.m. on ESPN, the latest in a decadelong run of the "30 for 30" series.
ESPN is owned by the same parent company as ABC 7.
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