Deion Sanders on Missing Shedeur, 90s Cowboys Aura and Becoming Prime Time | Ep 155

0:00My welcome to the NFL moment was housing that thing on the first game I played in against the That's a hell of a welcome. That's a good one. I dropped it, picked it up, and housed it. And I can remember going downtown to the mall. I bought 11 Gucci watches for the whole Pup Return team. Special teams? Oh, man, this is electric. And I wrote on the card, every fourth down, I just wanted y 'all to know what time it was. That is so good.

0:36Welcome back to New Heights. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, The Wondery Show brought to you by Reese's Oreo Cups, the delicious peanut butter cups with the Oreo cookie combined. Goddamn. We are your hosts. I'm Travis Kelsey and my big brother, Jason Kelsey, out of Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Subscribe on YouTube, Wondery Plus, wherever you get your podcasts, and follow the show on all social media at New Heights Show with one S for fun clips throughout the week. 92 %ers, we got an incredible guest episode, man. And he's been one of the main people that I've looked up to my entire life that I've always wanted to get on this show.

1:10And it's finally happening. It's pretty incredible. We got a great episode. Jason, why don't you do the honors and tell everybody what we got coming up today. Before we get to that, Travis, let's put them on. Baby. There we go. We got a fun one right now. Let's see what time it is. Oh, yeah. Hold on. Hold on. Excuse me. I think money's on the line, baby.

1:38All righty, our guest today is a 6 '1 shutdown quarterback from Florida State University. He was the fifth overall pick in the 1989 NFL Draft. He's a six-time All-Pro, eight-time Pro Bowler, one-time defensive player of the year, and a member of the NFL Hall of Fame. He's a two-time Super Bowl champion and the only person in history to play in a Super Bowl and a World Series. You know him as Neon Deon. Prime time. And most recently, Coach Prime. 92 percenters, please welcome Deon Sanders. That's how I'm waking up now. I'm not getting out of my bed unless I hear that. I'm not getting up. Coach, just the least we can do, man.

2:24We appreciate you taking the time, man. How are we doing this week? We getting the guys back on track? We got no choice. We ain't a choice, right? There we go. I'm right there with you. I'm right there with you, man. How did we walk into the building today? That's what I want to know, man. You know what, man? The whole thing is accountability. That's my word of the week. Everybody's accountable, baby. Everybody's accountable. We got to step it up. We got to go to the next level. And you can't want the good, pretty, shiny stuff if you're not ready to do the good, pretty, shiny things. Right, right.

2:59I love it. I love it, man. Well said. Getting after it. And that's exactly the message that Coach Reed actually had for us is just accountability, man. As long as you're bringing that energy and you're holding yourself accountable, we're going to be just fine. We're going to be just fine. It's going to be all right. Well, Coach, we start everything off with a little bit of new news. And how about you start us off with a little bit of that new news? I know you're recently dropping your new Prime 21 apparel. Yes, sir. High stepper socks, cowboy hats. These shades are ridiculous. These are both. Man, these are nice.

3:30Chaser ball. Come on now. I'm going to tell you somebody's socks. See, Kelsey, back in the day, they thought I just wore my socks scrunched down, but I actually had them made like this. Really? I didn't know that. Everybody's been faking it this whole time? Yeah. Everybody's been trying to replicate. They can't do it. They were made like this, so when I pulled them up, it just had that appearance and had that look, but they were made like this. I love it. I love it. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. I was glad. Listen, everybody wants to be like prime at what point in your life coach did you know you had people gravitating towards you because of the personality that you had i was a little you know like you wouldn't believe it now because i you know i know when i got to put on i got to show out i got to show up and show out but i'm a i'm a homebody man i don't go out i don't club i don't kick it i don't smoke i don't drink never tasted alcohol never been high day in my life i don't i don't like out.

4:26I don't mind playing in front of crowds and selling stadiums out, but I don't like crowds. I don't like to be in crowds or around a lot of people. I'm a home guy. I'm in eight by seven, man. I never went out at the games because I always had migraines because I was so hyped during the games. Coming down always gave me migraines, so I had to go right along with ice packs on my neck and they had no cure for it. I had all kind of stuff going on, but I couldn't I could never celebrate like that. I never was that type of guy that my persona led me to be. I hear you. Yeah, absolutely. That is, yeah.

5:05The persona is definitely what everybody knows you as the freaking prime time. I mean, come on now. That was our entire childhood. Watching that was incredible. I'm just glad they're bringing back the kicks. I'm just glad they're bringing back the kicks. Which one? The Diamond Turfs. Which one? Which one? Every colorway, man. Every single colorway. What's the one you need, Kels? What's the one you need? You know I got all of them, Coach. You know I got all of them. I need every single one. What's the one you need? They don't make it with good leather like this anymore. Coach, I appreciate you bringing them back.

5:38I got you, Kels. One of the things that's been so fun to watch is you taking that personality and that energy to the college football ranks and coaching ranks. I love this, man. You've completely changed the game. You're still at Colorado, but now the thing that's changed this year is your sons aren't there anymore. Oh, yeah. What's it been like now that your kids have moved on in their careers? Yeah, what's it like coaching now? Tough. Jokes? Yeah. They clowning me right now, and I'm clowning them right back. Like, I just got to go to the phone with Shador. And it's just, you know, we got this family chat.

6:10Then we got the girls involved with the chat. Then we just got all the boys and all the girls. We got all different kind of chats because I got five kids. So, right now they on my butt. I just told Shador, I know you miss me. He said, no, I know you missed me.

6:28Get it twisted. But you know what, man? I definitely miss them because just all my life, they've been there. They've been there, and they've been right there with me the whole step away. My oldest son is still here doing all the social stuff. But I definitely miss my other two sons. I certainly do. And my daughter that was playing basketball here. She's at Alabama A &M right now. That had to be such a special, special time in your life to be able to do that with your kids like that, man. I think everybody in the football world could only dream of being able to do something that you did like that, man.

6:59We don't know another way. We didn't know another way. Like all our lives, that's the only way we knew. So we never knew another way of how it's supposed to be. We thought that's how it's supposed to be. You got a new quarterback under your hands, Martin Luther Stahl. man with the I had a dream uh being here and and doing it the interview after the first game was electric man but right now it's um I'm not sure uh how the NIL world has changed when you knew college to be when you were at Florida State but how difficult is that navigating uh the new world that that is amongst the NIL deals in college let me take you back a minute I think I was actually the first NIL deal because my junior year, I didn't play baseball at Florida State, but I got drafted by the Yankees.

7:48So I accepted professional cash, which allowed me to be a walk-on coming back my senior year of football. So I went and played the whole summer six weeks. I played rookie league for two weeks in Sarasota. I played single A for two weeks in Fort Lauderdale. Then I went to play for two weeks in Columbus. all in the summer. Then I came back in August to get ready for camp.

8:16Since I accepted money from pros, I was a walk-on. That's crazy. The Yankees paid my scholarship, but you couldn't tell me nothing on campus. You couldn't tell me. Of course. Yeah, right.

8:30I got a neck full of gold. I got big Louie bags. That's what That's when the prime stuff really jumped off because I had justification. Yeah, for sure. That's amazing. That's such a crazy world, man. And obviously, it kind of primed you up and got you ready for when you went to the pros and played in two different professional leagues in the same day. Yeah, but man, it was my life, fellas. To me, it was nothing big because that was my life. Like all my life, I had played baseball, football and basketball. So even in high school, I remember playing in the basketball All-Star game the same day the baseball All-Star game was.

9:15We played baseball during that day. The basketball game was that night. So I was used to that. So when I got to college, how can somebody tell you what you can't do? And this is the only life I knew. I didn't know another life. So that's why when it got to the pro level, I'm like, how are you telling me I can't do this? And this is all I know. I don't know. I don't know no other way. We definitely played multiple sports growing up. And I tried to do the football basketball thing. When I say I tried, I asked and they said, yeah, you can come on. You're going to get a football scholarship. You're going to play football until football season is over with.

9:48And then you're going to go play basketball. And then there was the whole you have to be responsible, Travis. And that's what I wasn't. So the accountability and how responsible you were, you had everything in line. And that's the type of dedication it takes for somebody to be a, not only just a two sports star, but maybe even a two position star like you had with Travis Hunter last year. Yeah, man. How have you seen him kind of come into his role with Jacksonville? Do you like how he's being used yet? Or have you been able to even catch him? No, no, no, definitely not. They're not using him enough.

10:19Like, you know, I've seen it. I've seen it with my own eyes on an everyday basis for three straight years. So I know what he's capable of and I know how you got to take care of him. He never practiced on Tuesdays. He's practiced on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. He was ready to play hundreds of snaps on Saturday. So you didn't need to use him on a Tuesday or Monday. You don't use him like that. But Travis is a big kid, man. He just loves the game. He loves football. He loves studying. He loves the preparation. He always had at least five hours of study in each week because we keep that list. We know how much everybody studied.

10:53And he is just a phenomenal athlete, one of the greatest I've ever seen. do both simultaneously. And he dominated. My rule is I'll let anybody do it as long as you dominate. You got to be dominating. You got to get it done. Yeah, you got to get it done. I can't let you out there. You're getting killed on the corner, but you're playing receiver. No, no, no. It's the word. Obviously, Travis Hunter, the big number one pick out there. You've had a couple other players. Obviously, your son Shador, LeJante Wester with the Ravens and Jimmy Horn with the Panthers. I guess as Browns fans, we got to know.

11:28Have you been keeping up with Shador in Cleveland? What's the best piece of advice you've given him as a dad and as a coach? Be patient and be ready. There you go. Be patient and be ready. That's all you can do. I don't want you to – they call your name and you ain't ready. Don't let that – we ain't built like that. Sanders, we ain't built like that. We always ready. We don't have to get ready. There you go. We just ready. And I want you to be patient. You don't force nothing that it may not be time. You know, I drink coffee every morning. That's one thing I do. I don't pull the coffee cup off the darn maker before it's ready.

11:59It's got to be prepared, right? At the end of the day. Put my ingredients in, I make it right. But I'm like, son, you got to be ready. You got to be ready when it's time. But when it's time, you're going to know. And it's coming up. You know, I got a prediction. I ain't telling nobody. I got a feeling when it's going to go down. But it's going to go down. It's going to happen. All right. Yeah, you're going to get a shot. And that's all you can ask for as a player. All you can ask for is the opportunity, right? Damn, it is. Because this was all over the media. Because I know y 'all keep it a buck.

12:28That's why I love y 'all to life. And mama, too. Please tell mama I said hi. You know it. Let me tell you something. How in the world, they made a big deal out of Philly called us on draft day. They didn't mention that. I just let a cat out of the bag. Okay. No, it's good. I didn't know that. Yeah, okay. Who was it? Baltimore. I heard this, yeah. And the Browns. They forget. I know I play for Baltimore, so me and Ozzy are cool. So we understood that whole conversation, and he wanted to talk to Shador as well as he wanted to talk to me. And I put Shador on the phone, and Shador, I don't want to say how it went, but how in the world can somebody fault him for saying or thinking, why in the world would I go back up Lamar for 10 more years?

13:18Like, who comes in with that mindset? No, that's not where you want to go. If the goal is to be that guy and you want to be the player and the quarterback. And you want to get that opportunity. Yeah, but where do these guys come from that sit on these platforms and say, oh, you should have sat in behind and learned the game and been what they developed? What have the pros ever developed to anybody? Yeah, it don't happen very often. By the time you get to the NFL, they expect you to know what you need to do and to do it or somebody else go get in there and do it. Now, they teach you their playbook, but development and teaching you how to route folks up and you how to block and hold that point.

14:01Man, please. Ain't nobody told you that. You're going to figure it out on your own, man. I've been trying to teach some guys that have come come in and out of the building or all across that. I ask you, you know, how how do you run your route like this? How do you run your route like that? I'm like, man, you just got to run it enough to figure it out. Right. Like for me, I was a six round draft pick and I got drafted to a team in Philadelphia that wanted a new center. I was so lucky to get into a position where they were like, just don't fuck this up, Jason. And you can be the starter. Like we want you to play.

14:36And that's like, if I would have went behind, if I would have went behind Kevin Mawai or, you know, I'm trying to think of who the other centers were, Alex Mack or some of these guys and sat like, yeah, I would have learned something from, but it was much better for me in my career to get an opportunity to go and play right away. There ain't no question. And if I, I wouldn't have changed that for a second, don't matter what I'm going to learn or develop anywhere else. I've never sat on the bench and said, well, I learned a lot today.

15:06That is a fucking great quote. God damn, that is a good quote. Who learns sitting on the bench? Like, who does that? Yeah, you're going to learn a lot more being out there. We did want to bring up, you've been known to rank your kids. What's the latest ranking? Where are we at right now? First of all, y 'all parents rank y 'all. Y 'all just don't know. Okay. No, for sure. Mom's always had Travis number one. I do know. Listen, and right now, right now, mom has Jason number one because he has kids. That is true. She has said that. She has made that comment. She's put some pressure on him. So what you waiting on?

15:41So what you waiting on? You know, like I tell my kids, I know we've had some close calls. I tell my kids. You know, we sit in the edge of the bed like, oh, Lord, if you get me out of this one. I promise you I'll be with church Sunday. I promise you, Lord. I rate my kids, man. Like, I love them differently. I don't love them the same. This is honest. I know which one is going to take care of me when I'm older. I know which one is going to ask me for money when I'm older. I know which one. It keeps me on my knees in front of God. I know I'm like a book. All you have to do is just describe what happened, and I can tell you which one did it.

16:20That's how knowledgeable I am with my kids, and I love them differently. Let's transition to playing, Proud Time. Oh, man. The one that we grew up, I mean, just the incredible, not just play. It wasn't just that you were a player. That was spectacular. But it was everything. The bravado, the whole show was just incredible to watch. And it all really took off with the 90s Cowboys. So recently, Netflix put out America's Team documentary about the 90s Cowboys. I mean, what was it like playing on this team, Coach? Yeah. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Like, I was just going through like a personal kind of hell at the time.

16:59I left San Fran. And, you know, it was like I needed challenges in my life. I'm like, okay, let me go to San Fran. Oh, okay, we beat the Cowboys. Oh, boom, Jerry Jones wants me to go there. Let me go there and see if we can beat San Fran now. It's like I needed challenges in my life. And, you know, I called Mike. Playmakers like a brother to me, man. We had a bunch of Florida boys that played for Cowboys at the time. I said, how is it, man? I ain't with no jealousy. I ain't got time for this, man. Every locker room I've been in, there's been some bull junk. I ain't got time for that. Mike said, we good over here, baby.

17:29We Florida boys over here. Emmitt Mike, Big Nate, you know, all my guys. Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay. So it was unbelievable, man. Jerry Jones will go down and should go down his history as arguably the best owner that ever owned a football franchise. Because of this, you hear media talk about Jerry. You've never heard a player talk about Jerry Jones in a negative fashion. Because he is unbelievable. I had the luxury to play for Eddie DiBarlo, who was unbelievable. and some other ones than Steve Bishotti later on in life. But let me tell you something, man. The Cowboys, you're talking about America's team and when you travel and when you go places, it's probably like it is for Kelsey.

18:09You know, right now, you see, it's probably the same way. You guys are with Philly at the end. Philly fans are crazy. They'll kill you, shank you in.

18:21It was unbelievable, man. It really was. It was an experience. We were too young and dumb to really know the level of it. I can only imagine what it was. I mean, it took it by storm, and it literally became the biggest franchise in sports because of those years. Is that like your favorite team that you were on? No, no. Atlanta was my favorite team. Atlanta was a fan. We had so much fun, man. I mean, we got our butts kicked. I think we went to a playoff. We had so much fun, man. I think we had a team meeting Maddox City every Friday night. You know, it was just crazy. There we go. We had so much fun.

18:55Shout out to Magic. It was so much fun. But the Dallas Cowboys were different. San Francisco was business. It was like business. And I love that it was business. But then you got to Dallas and you won like they did in San Fran, but you had fun winning. Because you enjoyed all your teammates and all the laughter and the banter that went on. I got to say from this documentary in Dallas, as an Eagles fan, you're like – or as an Eagles player and on this side of it, you're taught to hate Jerry Jones. I got to say, I kind of like what I'm seeing. I got to admit when between this documentary and then his deal on Landman when he talks about buying the franchise and his family and everything, I'm like, you know what?

19:40I'm kind of turning into a Jerry guy. I kind of like what I'm being told. Let me tell you one quick story about Jerry. Once upon a time, I'm watching ESPN, and this guy is about to go crazy. You remember him, Big Kells. I call him Big Kells a little bit. Lonzo Spellman Lonzo Spellman arms hanging down to his knees just shredded, ripped just unbelievable and he was going through something in this like crazy house or whatever they admitted them to in Chicago and I said Jerry I can help him, I can help him he flew his jet to pick the kid up brought him to the Cowboys and changed his life man he helped change his life and he end up balling out for us, you know, signing another deal.

20:26Then he ended up, he had a decision whether to stay there or go to Detroit or New England somewhere. I think he chose Detroit. I don't know if it worked out, but changed that kid's life, man. But that's the kind of guy Jerry was. Like if you said, hey man, go get that dude. He could help us. Jerry was going to go get him if he felt like he could help the team. That's the kind of guy Jerry was. That's the kind of guy you want to play for, man. Absolutely. We wanted to win for him. Zim and, you know, the whole darn shebang, man. We just want, we had a great group of coaches. I love me some Barry Switzer, man.

20:58That was my dude, man. That was my dude. Barry gave me my first, got me my first bass boat from Jerry Riddle. He called me in the office. I know. I said, man, I heard you make fishing, Prime. I said, yeah, I do. He said, man, you go down there on 35 and ask for Jerry Riddle. Tell him Barry sent you. Man, they gave me a 21-foot pro craft. I never forgot that day, man. I was stunned on the lake. I mean, stunned on the lake, man. How many did you catch that day? I don't know, but I looked good. That was my first time I was a fly fisherman. I don't fly fish, but I'm a fly fisherman. Oh, there we go.

21:38There we go. Too good, man. Who was the one quarterback you loved playing the most? Either out of respect or the fact that he just was silly enough to keep throwing the ball your way. Cat from the Rams. The cat from the Rams used to always have something for me, man. Oh, what was his name? Jim Everett. Jim Everett. Jim Everett had a bull on that thing. He had a bull on that thing for me, man.

22:04My God. I got a good story. I don't know if it's mine to tell, but I'm going to tell it. Andy Reid was telling me, I wear your shoes in the facility. I rock them. Whenever we're on the field, we're not doing anything up-tempo and stuff like that. I'm always rocking your kicks. and he asked me what are those what are those shoes and I told him I was like they're from they're from the 90s they're Deion Sanders uh Diamond Turfs and he said man he just shook his head and he was like you know when we played him when he was in Green Bay coaching with uh Brett Favre he was the quarterbacks coach he said he told Favre before the game he's like listen whatever you do just not that side of the field just don't do it just not that side just don't do it that's not even worth it just keep just go over here you'll be fine we'll be fine he said within the first handful of plays.

22:49He tested the waters and he said he walked over to the sideline. He couldn't even look Brett in the face because you picked it up. But you got to understand why Brett tried me. Brett was my teammate in Atlanta. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Rookie year, Brett. He was traded to the balcony. The reason he was traded to Green Bay is because Brett used to tell the starting quarterback Chris Miller at the time, hey, go on out there and mess it up. I'll be in by the third quarter.