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 Originally Posted by wufwugy
Why do you think Deion Sanders is so good?
He completely re-defined the position. He was big enough, strong enough, and fast enough to cover any wide receiver in the game 1 on 1. He could cover a guy man-to-man, and still deny entire portions of the field to other receivers because he was so fucking fast. His numbers are impressive, but some of his best games have goose-eggs on the stat sheet. That's because offenses simply wouldn't ever put the ball anywhere near him.
His career occurred during a time when the 'west coast offense' became en vogue. This system of offense did not require receivers to "get open". Basically it requires precise timing of route running and throwing. The receiver would run to a spot, at a certain time, and find the ball delivered there. This eviscerated defenses. The offense knows where the ball is going, the defense doesn't. It's trivially easy to deliver the ball there in less time than it takes for the defense to react and get there.
In 1990, there was 1 QB in the whole league with over 4000 yards passing. in 1995, there were 4, and a whole slew of guys just slightly under that mark. Defense, overall, across the whole league was getting worse. Offenses were getting harder to stop.
But not for Deion Sanders
Size, strength, speed.....no other cornerback has had all three of those ingredients on a level comparable with Deion Sanders.
The 49'ers and Cowboys were juggernauts of the NFC. They met in four consecuitive NFC championship games. The cowboys won the first two. Steve Young's 49ers just could not get by that cowboys team. Then in 1995, they got Deion Sanders. Bye bye cowboys.
The following year, the cowboys threw a shitload of money at Deion. Bye bye 49'ers.
He was literally that important to a team.
Oh...and by the way...football wasn't his only professional sport. He played in a world series once.
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