NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders admits playing in the MLB was far harder than any other athletic endeavor: "That ball does some things"
Deion Sanders is best known for being an NFL Hall of Famer and the incoming head coach for the University of Colorado. However, when he was playing, he was one of the very few athletes who even semi-successfully made the transition to another major sport.
He was one of the most electric players in football during his prime and he decided to take his talents to the MLB. Unlike Michael Jordan, who was unable to make the transition from the NBA to the MLB, Sanders had a nine-year MLB career.
When speaking to another NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe, "Prime" admitted that playing baseball was much harder.
Deion explains why the #MLB was harder than the #NFL https://t.co/WUbljLFp8U
Of all the athletic endeavors he embarked on, which ranged from track and field to baseball, Sanders admitted that football was the easiest and baseball was by far the hardest:
"That ball does some things to you. Any sport that you can fail seven out of 10 times and become great and make $2-300 million in it, that's a hard sport."
As a result, it would have been easy for the cornerback to walk away. He was a star in a much easier sport and didn't have to play baseball at all. He said the reason why was the inherent challenge:
"The challenge, man. I love challenges and I could not master it. And it frustrated me because I hate to lose and I hate I'm not mastering something that I know, if I just had more time I could."
Sanders achieved one feat that no other athlete ever has. On September 5, 1992, the cornerback scored a touchdown in the NFL and hit a home run in the MLB. No two-sport athlete has ever done that in one day.
What MLB teams did Deion Sanders play for?
Deion Sanders played for nine years in the MLB and 14 years in the NFL. He was first drafted to and played for the New York Yankees.
He played two seasons there before landing with the Atlanta Braves.
Through his fourth season with them, he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds. He was traded to the San Francisco Giants, which marked the fourth team in his career.
He hit .263 in his career and was not named to an All-Star team.