Explaining why fans can't separate Coach Prime from Deion Sanders the player

Deion Sanders is certainly a divisive figure in the college football landscape, and really, he’s been either loved or hated dating back to his own playing days.

Sanders always had a different air about him on the field, a remarkable talent and someone who never failed to let his opponent know that. Even as a coach, that trash talk hasn’t gone away, which led to Sanders making some ridiculously bold claims ahead of and throughout last season. For some who grew up watching Sanders play, that’s the kind of attitude and talk they always loved from him, but for others, it’s why they were sour on him from the jump.

Phillip Dukes joined Andy Staples on Monday’s On3 YouTube show to explain how that divide on Deion Sanders from back in his playing days is still very present now that he’s a coach.

“You grew up with it. Like, you were in Atlanta when he was with the Falcons. You were a kid. Like, you were kind of ground zero for Deion,” Staples commented on Dukes’ relationship with Sanders the player.

“I was in Florida when he was at Florida State and we both got to watch him as kids. I think we both kind of felt the same way about him as a player. But I had forgotten how my parents thought about him as a player.”

Dukes then went in-depth explaining why some people, for better or worse, just can’t separate the coach from the former player.

“One of the biggest reasons people hate Colorado is because they cannot separate Deion Sanders the player from Coach Prime,” Dukes asserted. “There’s a difference, and that works for his favor and against him.”

For some, the cockiness is enchanting, and for others, not so much.

“See, Deion Sanders told the NFL nobody as going to have enough money to pay him outright, that they were going to have to put him on layaway before he even stepped on the field. That’s my kind of talk. But a lot of people don’t believe in that type of talk. They don’t believe in high-stepping into the end zone. They don’t believe in playing a game for the Braves and Falcons in the same day.”

Guys like Phillip Dukes still recall just how cool and fun Sanders was a player back in the day, especially to young local Atlanta kids like himself. But then again, there was a whole portion of football fans who couldn’t stand the antics.

“See, Deion Sanders was a different type of guy. He never marched to the beat of a traditional drum. Deion had MC Hammer, the biggest star in the world, on the sidelines. Where you think Drake gets all that from? The Falcons were back to black, ‘Too Legit to Quit,’ Deion all in the video, Hammer all on the sideline at the playoffs. That was Deion. So for every kid like me who loved that, that’s our kind of talk. But then, there’s a whole other section of people who don’t subscribe to that.”

Staples commented “that would be my parents!” to really drive home the point, since Staples himself was like Dukes as a kid and loved Deion.

Today, the generations may have changed a bit, but that divide of believing Sanders is cool vs. believing he’s completely full of himself still exists with him now coaching a D1 program.