Media Appearances and Pop Culture Fame
Following his first Super Bowl victory with the San Francisco 49ers, Sanders was the host of Saturday Night Live, broadcast on February 18, 1995.
Sanders has been in numerous television commercials for Nike, Pepsi, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and American Express. He was most notable as the Road Runner in a Pepsi ad with Wile E. Coyote, and in a Pizza Hut commercial where he responds to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones questions ("Football or baseball?" and "Offense or defense?") with "both!!", including the question "So what'll it be, Deion? $15...20 million?" Sanders pauses to think it over, and says, "Umm...both." He also makes a cameo as himself in the film Celtic Pride.
Sanders, known for his custom-made showy suits and flashy jewelry, frequently capitalized on his image. On December 26, 1994 Sanders released Prime Time, a rap album on Bust It Records (MC Hammer's label) that featured the singles "Must Be The Money" and "Prime Time Keeps on Tickin'". The album received universally poor reviews, and despite Sanders fame, neither the album nor the singles charted.
Sanders, a friend of Hammer's, also appeared in his "Too Legit to Quit" music video, and his alter-ego "Prime Time" showed up in Hammer's "Pumps and a Bump" video. Hammer, a big sports fan, had launched a new enterprise during his career called Roll Wit It Entertainment & Sports Management (which released DRS' two-million-selling "Gangsta Lean") and had clients such as Evander Holyfield, Deion Sanders and Reggie Brooks. In 1995, Hammer released "Straight to My Feet" (with Deion Sanders) from the Street Fighter soundtrack (released in December 1994). The song charted #57 in the UK.
After retiring from the NFL, Sanders worked as a sports pre-game commentator for CBS' The NFL Today until 2004, when contract negotiations failed. Sanders turned down a 30% salary increase demanding to be paid $2.5 million, the highest of any NFL TV analyst. He was replaced by Shannon Sharpe. During Sanders's run, he participated in several sketches. The first was "Primetime and 21st," a mock street corner where Sanders (not yet a regular panelist) would give his opinions. Another was his "Sanders Claus" persona, one of numerous sketches that involved young kids in football jerseys, representing NFL players, receiving a sarcastic gift from Sanders. Deion actually debuted as "Sanders Claus" in a set of Nike commercials. Still to this day Deion takes presents at Christmas time to local children's hospitals in his area dressed as "Sanders Claus".
Sanders frequently made guest appearances on ESPN, especially on the ESPN Radio Dallas affiliate, and briefly hosted a show called The New American Sportsman. He also hosted the 2002 Miss USA pageant.
Sanders also was co-host of the 2004 GMA Music Awards broadcast, taped in late April 2004, slated for an airing on UPN in May 2004. When negotiations with fellow Viacom property CBS failed (see above) two weeks before the broadcast, and he signed a deal with ESPN, UPN promptly canceled the broadcast, and the show aired on the i Network in December 2004 (both UPN and CBS are now owned by CBS Corporation).
Sanders currently works at NFL Network as an analyst on a number of the network's shows. Prior to the Sunday night game, Sanders, alongside host Rich Eisen and Steve Mariucci, breaks down all the action from the afternoon matchups on NFL GameDay Highlights. At the conclusion of all the action on Sunday, Sanders, Mariucci, Michael Irvin and host Fran Charles recap the day’s action on NFL GameDay Final with highlights, analysis and postgame interviews. For the 2010 season, Sanders joined Eisen, Mariucci and Marshall Faulk on the road for Thursday Night Kickoff Presented by Lexus, NFL Network’s two-hour pregame show leading into Thursday Night Football. The group broadcasts live from the stadium two hours prior to all eight live Thursday Night Football games and returns for the Sprint Halftime Show and Kay Jewelers Postgame Show. Sanders also has a segment called "Let's Go Primetime" on NFL Network. In a notable incident in 2011, Joe Theismann mistakenly pronounced Danny Woodhead's name as "Danny Woodcock", causing Sanders to laugh hysterically and fall off his chair.
Controversy ensued after the 2010 NFC Championship game, where Sanders was one of the critics of Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, saying on Twitter ""Im telling u in the playoffs u must drag me off the field. All the medicine in pro lockerooms this dude comes out! I apologize bear fans! ... Folks i never question a players injury but i do question a players heart."
In 2008 Sanders and his wife starred in the reality show Deion & Pilar: Prime Time Love, centering around them and their five children living in the small town of Prosper, Texas.
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