Deion Sanders turned Shedeur into an NFL quarterback but Prime owes sons for career

Deion Sanders was an electrifying player and provided a lightning bolt to the Colorado Buffaloes program as a coach.

Reviving a college program isn’t easy no matter how legendary your NFL career was — just ask Bill Belichick.

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But after working his way through academy roles, high school and Jackson State, Primetime proved his critics wrong when he hit Division 1.

Champ Bailey was partnered with Sanders early in his own Hall of Fame career after Primetime joined the Washington Redskins in 2000.

He didn’t know his backfield partner would end up on the sideline, but reaped the rewards of his experience right away.

“You know, I didn’t see coach specifically,” he exclusively told talkSPORT. “But I think when I reflect, Deion was always teaching.

“I can remember a time when he brought a lot of young players out to his house in Dallas. We went out, we worked out, sat down. He was a mentor.”

Deion famously guided the careers of his sons Deion Jr., Shedeur, and Shilo.

All three made it to college, but only Shedeur stuck around in the NFL — a tumultuous rookie season with the Cleveland Browns that Deion says turned him off coaching in the pros for good.

Coach Prime taught his sons how to thrive on and off the field, putting them on the path to success whether they follow in his footsteps or not.

“All the Sanders are going to be straight with or without football. You better believe that,” he explained. “You better believe that I take care of mine and I’ve always have, and y’all know what I mean. You better believe that.”

Last season was Deion’s first coaching without any of his sons on the team in his new calling.

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Bailey thinks his former teammate’s family helped him find a new path.

“He had already been doing that sort of on the side. And I think what really brought on the coaching was his sons,” he explained. “You know, being able to coach his young son, who’s a quarterback.

“He’s been a quarterback since he could walk, I believe. And I think that’s where the coaching aspect came in.

“He’s always, he had been already teaching all this time, teaching other guys outside of his household. So that doesn’t surprise me.”

Champ Bailey joins AI project

Bailey has linked up with Sports Brief AI, which was set up by sports media personality J.R. Jackson in partnership with Morgan State and Google, and can produce game summaries, previews, and post-game wrap-ups using an AI likeness of a celebrity athlete.

“When he brought it to my attention, what he was doing, it just makes sense because I’ve always sat where I sit and try to figure out how to scale my knowledge, how to scale my image, you know, my likeness,” said the first ballot Hall of Famer.

“And I just love the idea of using this tech-driven AI platform, Sports Brief AI, but to do it with my likeness at scale. I mean, to me, I was like, okay, that’s perfect because I know as a business, that’s all you care about. Can I scale it?”

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