Deion Sanders reveals wide receiver he feared guarding the most

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.”

Deion Sanders talks Power 5 inequality, honor of coaching at HBCU

The NFL legend also addressed his interviews with Power 5 schools and why he believes it’s for the best that none of those opportunities worked out.

“It’s tremendous and it’s a blessing (to coach an HBCU school),” Sanders said. “I do understand that God closed some of those doors to those Power 5 schools so I could go to a HBCU and do some of the things we’re doing and shed light on some of these programs and situations that are tremendously turbulent and (there is) inequality, even dealing with NILs. It’s tremendous. I love what we’re doing but we’re not done yet. And I love what (Tennessee State coach) Eddie George and some of the other coaches that are coaching HBCUs. And there’s gonna be many more I believe.”

Deion Sanders went on to say he interviewed for coaching positions with Florida State, Arkansas and TCU. He told Le Batard that he believes he should have landed the jobs, but ultimately that didn’t happen.

“I interviewed for three Power Five jobs. I should’ve got them,” Sanders said. “I was very, very, very good I may say in the interviews. In one of the interviews, I was so darn good, the guy asked me when could I start. ‘When can you really start?’ I told him when it was possible and they went in another direction. I wasn’t upset. That just means that God needed me to continue to be at Jackson State.”

Deion Sanders led Jackson State to its first conference championship since 2007 this past season and the first 11-win season in school history. The second-year coach won the Eddie Robinson Award, given annually to the FCS coach of the year.

Despite the success, the Tigers finished the season with a 31-10 loss to South Carolina State in the Celebration Bowl. His team’s performance in that game prompted Sanders to declare that Jackson State needed to “get better players at certain positions.”

Those weren’t just empty words, as he went on to sign the No. 60 overall recruiting class this offseason according to On3’s Team Consensus Rankings. The class is highlighted by five-star athlete Travis Hunter, the No. 1 overall player in 2022 according to On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average. Sanders also made a splash in the transfer portal by landing former Miami receiver Mark Pope and Texas A&M linebacker Antonio Doyle.

Those additions to an already talented roster should make Jackson State one of the most dangerous teams in FCS next season. The Tigers will open the 2022 season on Sept. 4 against the Florida A&M Rattlers.