FSU football (and baseball) spent four years being graced with the presence of one of the best athletes of all time who almost went into the MLB first.
When the history books are written about the athletics program at Florida State University – not just FSU football, but all the sports like baseball and soccer and more – there is no doubt that the name Deion Sanders will be mentioned among the top players, if not THE top player, to ever suit up for the garnet and gold.
On the football field, Prime Time did everything for the Seminoles and was arguably the best defensive back in college football during his four seasons under head coach Bobby Bowden – finishing his time as a unanimous All American twice and being named the Jim Thorpe Award winner his senior season.
In baseball, he spent two seasons helping the Seminoles with a .281 career batting average and 38 stolen bases while getting to play in the College World Series his first season – oh yeah, did I forget to mention the three seasons with the track team where be brought home several titles?
Of course, it all could have been something no one would have seen had it not been for another former Seminole who convince Deion to join the FSU football team as well as play other sports.
In a video from The Player’s Tribune, Sanders spoke about growing up in Fort Myers and being close to the Kansas City Royals when they held spring training there. Little did the Royals know that when they picked him in the sixth round of the 1985 MLB Draft, there was someone with ties to our beloved Noles that had his alma mater’s best interest in mind.
Howser and the Royals would go on to win the World Series before he tragically died of cancer over a year later – never getting a chance to see Prime Time on a Major League diamond. Kansas City wouldn’t draft him, but the New York Yankees did three years later with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons following up the next year.
Deion Sanders has never been shy about his love for the FSU football and baseball programs as well as the school as a whole – but who knew that it was one of the original stars on the diamond for the Seminoles that was the driving force behind making sure that it all took place.