Deion Sanders reveals how he was given the nickname 'Primetime'

Deion Sanders recently joined the Jimmy Fallon show and explained how the legendary nickname of “Primetime” all began.

Fallon jokingly asked Sanders about a previous nickname.

“You don’t like Neon Deon?” Fallon asked with a grin.

The former NFL star cornerback and current head coach of Jacksonville State wasted no time in explaining his preference when it comes to nicknames and the reasoning behind it.

“No, they tried to give me that at Florida State and I had already earned ‘Primetime’ in high school. I dropped like 37 that night and had two dunks back-to-back, the curl was wet and it looked dry,” Deion Sanders explained with a laugh. “We were on the way home on the bus and one of my homies says, ‘man, you are primetime!’ I said, ‘you are right.’ You can’t just give me a nickname you got to earn a nickname. I don’t like Neon Deion.”

It turns out one of the greatest NFL players in the history of the game actually earned his prized nickname on the basketball court.

Deion Sanders reveals wide receiver he feared the most in the NFL

Deion Sanders is regarded in most NFL circles as one of the top defensive backs in the history of the league, and it’s rare for “Prime” to admit his weaknesses.

But on a recent appearance on the Dan Le Batard Show,, the former Florida State star was posed a specific question about his NFL career and the former star corner provided a blunt response.

“Fill in the blank, name the one receiver that might of cost you a wink of sleep, even though Deion Sanders hates to admit to anybody that he would be concerned,” Le Betard posed as part of a segment.

“Jerry Rice,” Sanders replied without hesitation. “Because I knew the ball was coming to him at least 10 times. You have to understand, it isn’t like these days covering a guy. In those days, when I covered Jerry Rice, who was throwing? When I covered Michael Irvin, who was throwing? When you cover Andre Reed, who was throwing? It was a different day, man, you didn’t just play against a good receiver, the damn quarterback was a Hall of Famer.”

While Deion Sanders closed out his legendary NFL career with 53 interceptions, 22 total touchdowns, nine All-Pro selections and eight Pro Bowls in his 14 professional seasons, it’s clear he still worried about some of the top pass-catchers to ever play.