Deion Sanders: Colorado Football coach's MLB career as Braves, Yankees star, explored

Deion Sanders is one of a small, elite group of superstar athletes to play simeltanously in the MLB and the NFL. Although he is now a football coach for the University of Colorado Boulder, baseball has always been near and dear to Sanders.

While a student at North Fort Myers High School in 1980s, he was identified as a star athlete from a relatively young age. After earning the distinction of being an All-American honoree, he went on to excel in baseball and football at Florida State University, graduating in 1989.

Sanders became draft eligible after his graduation and to say that he drew interest from a host of MLB and NFL teams would be an understatement. Pundits across the entire North American pro sports world knew that this young man would be exceptional.

Although Sanders was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in 1985, he chose not to sign with them, opting instead to attend college. In 1989, he was invited to attend New York Yankees training camp after the team began to take notice of his stats at FSU.

The Atlanta Falcons were the first NFL franchise to scoop up young Deion Sanders. They selected the cornerback fifth overall after he ran 4.20 and 4.29 at the NFL combine that year.

"In 1992 Deion Sanders posted (92) Hits....and led the NL in Triples (14)" - @ Old Time Hardball

Sanders played for the Yankees from 1989 to 1990, hitting .234 and .158 respectively. He only managed to hit five home runs in 71 games and was placed on waivers by New York in 1991.

Prior to the 1991 MLB season, Sanders was still playing for the Falcons. He decided to sign with the Atlanta Braves so that it would be easier for him to split his time between the NFL and MLB.

1992 was the best season of Deion Sanders' MLB career. That year, he hit .304 with eight home runs, 28 RBIs and a league-best 14 triples. That very same year with the Falcons, he led the NFL in kickoff return yards with 1,067.

"Deion Sanders once hit a home run in the MLB and scored a NFL touchdown in the same week" - @ Baseball

In 1994, the Braves traded Deion Sanders to the Cincinnati Reds for Roberto Kelly. Sanders was traded to the San Francisco Giants the following year, retiring from baseball in 2001. He missed the 1996, 1998 and 1999 MLB seasons, choosing to go all-in with his football career.

Football was always Sanders' bailiwick and he is widely regarded as one of the best cornerbacks in NFL history. He won two Super Bowls and received six Pro Bowl designations.

Sanders was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011, six years after his NFL retirement.

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It's hard to be more athletic than Deion Sanders

Increasingly, it is becoming less frequent for players to be drafted by both the NFL and the MLB, let alone compete in both.

Although Deion Sanders is remembered primarily as a football player, he still hit 39 home runs and 168 RBIs in the MLB. These are a testament to his superlative athletic skills.