Deion Sanders once recalled losing hope while talking about suicide attempt - “I was empty”
Deion Sanders once found himself in a place where he lost all hope. In 1997, he was a two-time Super Bowl champion and even played in the World Series. Sanders was atop the world with fame and fortune, but something was missing.
His marriage was nearing its end and he ran his car off a cliff in a suicide attempt. Sanders reflected back and noted that he lost all hope despite his successes:
“I was going through the trials and tribulations of life. I was pretty much running on fumes. I was empty, no peace, no joy. Losing hope with the progression of everything.”
The Pro Football Hall of Famer miraculously survived the fall without any severe injuries. This was when gave his life to the Lord and he noted the impact faith has on his life:
“I finally just got on my knees and gave it all to the Lord. Slowly, but surely, I had to deal with my faith, deal with my strength. I had to get a lot of the word in so that I could fight off the enemy.
"I wouldn’t be where I am today without my faith. People argue about what faith is, and who Jesus is, but it works for me. I’m not going to sit here and argue about who is what, and what is what, I’m just going to say it works for me.”
A documentary from ESPN examined the life of the former two-sport athlete back in January 2019. It looked at October 11, 1992, when Deion Sanders played an NFL game and two MLB playoff games in two different cities, located 1K miles apart.
He began that day with the Atlanta Falcons in Miami before heading to Pittsburgh to join the Atlanta Braves.
Deion Sanders has found great success as a head coach
The former Dallas Cowboys star was hired as the head football coach at the HBCU Jackson State in September 2020. In his three seasons at Jackson State, he posted a record of 27 - 6 with two straight SWAC conference championships. He also led them to back-to-back appearances in the Celebration Bowl.
He was hired by the University of Colorado as their head coach last December. The six-time All-Pro cornerback will be joined by his sons Shedeur and Shilo at Colorado.
Deion Sanders will be looking to turn around a football program that had one win in 2022.