Deion Sanders Explains How He Was “the First NIL Player In the History Of the Game”

Before NIL deals allowed student-athletes to cash in their name, image, and likeness, earning millions of dollars legally while being part of college sports was next to impossible. Unless you were Deion Sanders of course. For Coach Prime has always been ahead of his time.

Prime played in an era where social media didn’t exist and sponsorship deals weren’t as lucrative and common among student-athletes as it is today. But that didn’t stop Deion Sanders from living the life of a paid athlete while studying at Florida State University. Not because Deion was able to find a loophole in the NCAA rulebook, but sheerly due to his talents.

In his recent media appearance, Neon Deion proudly proclaimed himself as the first-ever NIL player before going on to reveal the life-changing New York Yankees deal.

“First and foremost, I was the first NIL player in the history of the game. Let me explain. After my junior year, I didn’t play baseball in my junior season—not at all. I got tired, I got bored with it, so I said, ‘I ain’t playing.’ But I still got drafted by the New York Yankees, okay? And they offered me like a quarter of a million dollars.”

A quarter of a million dollars as a college athlete? In the pre-NIL era? That wasn’t just unheard of—it was unthinkable. But here’s the catch. Taking that money came with a price.

Since NCAA rules prohibited him from earning professional income while on a scholarship, Deion had to make a choice: keep his scholarship and pass on the Yankees’ offer, or give up his scholarship and take the bag.

“So I could leave college that summer, go make my money, and then come back—knowing I was about to be a top-five pick in the NFL Draft,” he said. “But in doing that, I had to relinquish my scholarship.”

Most in Prime’s position would have chosen to be conservative. After all, how many college prospects have the self-belief and courage to give up their scholarship and bet on their NFL draft stock? But of course, this is Prime Time we’re talking about. The choice was easy. So just like that, Deion Sanders, one of the biggest stars in college football, became a walk-on.

But in reality? He was living a life no other college athlete could even dream of. Fancy cars? Covered. Housing? Paid for. Tuition? Taken care of.

“That made me a walk-on, and I accepted that,” he said. “I had accepted money, and the school couldn’t pay for my scholarship because the Yankees paid for it. They covered my tuition, housing—everything.”

In an era where NCAA restrictions forced college athletes to blindly play for the love of the game, Deion Sanders ensured that the game loved him back as well. Many would call Deion Sanders ‘ahead of the curve’ in this topic, but it’s good food for thought to consider that Prime was the curve himself!