In my mind, there’s no one who embodies the brave new world of college football more perfectly than Coach Prime himself, Deion Sanders.
Like many of you, I was in awe of Sanders’ prodigious physical gifts and infectious joie de vivre during his playing days — first as a flamboyant DB for some legendary Florida State teams and then as pro football’s pre-eminent lockdown cornerback and an occasional (and electrifying) punt returner. His respectable dalliance with professional baseball only solidified his status as a singular athletic talent who — dare I say it? — arguably outshone Bo Jackson as a two-sport legend (after all, Deion’s a Hall of Famer in one of them).
Since his playing days ended, Sanders has continued his lifelong exercise in self-creation and self-promotion, first as…
