There are few athletes who've participated in sports over the vast history of the world as physically gifted as Deion Sanders.
The Florida native was arguably the best cornerback in the history of the NFL. He won two Super Bowl titles, made eight Pro Bowls, and was a six-time First Team All-Pro. For good measure, he then played parts of nine MLB seasons for five different franchises.
In one of those full seasons, Sanders hit .283 while stealing 38 bases. Another season saw him hit .304 with eight homers, 14 triples, and 26 stolen bases. Sanders had a highly unusual ability to toggle back-and-forth between two professional sports in a way that was truly transcendent.
Being one of the original 'unicorns' himself, it's not surprising to see him be highly complimentary of Los Angeles Dodgers star two-way player Shohei Ohtani.
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The current head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes football team was doing his usual weekly press conference and was specifically asked about Ohtani's Herculean efforts in Game 4 of the NLCS versus the Milwaukee Brewers. The energetic sports personality had not heard about Ohtani's stat line, and as the reporter relayed the 10-strikeout/three-homer performance, Sanders said "that's ridiculous, man. He did what?!"
He then went further into shock and appreciation for what Ohtani did. The same reporter pressed Sanders and asked whether that was the best individual performance of any athlete regardless of sport for a single game.
"Can they just hand [Ohtani] the MVP [trophy] during the game? I've seen some wonderful things that have transpired in sports. It's hard for me to say that, but that is unbelievable. He's doing something that's unfathomable. I'm not going to say [all of] sports history because I can't recant everything that's transpired in sports history. I hope he opens the door for others because there's many pitchers that can do both, but are never allowed to do so. Because they put [players] in a pocket and say, 'You just need to do that.' So hopefully he opens the doors for others."
It's unknown as to whether Ohtani and Sanders have ever met. It would be a massive collector's item to get a signed picture of both given how special they were/are in their respective sports.
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Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images