Shedeur Sanders and Deion Sanders have a lot more in common than football. The father-son duo also loves a good whip. But there’s one car that has the two on opposite sides of the fence. Deion’s 1989 Mercedes-Benz 560 SEC is his favorite set of wheels. The classic car, however, is not quite fancied by Shedeur.
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Coach Prime’s coveted car collection includes this vintage car, which he modified into a convertible by chopping off the roof. It was the car he “used to roll around Atlanta in.” While talking about the 560 SEC in a Well-Off Media video once, Sanders had described it as “the Maybach right now… This was top-of-the-line Mercedes at that time in 88.”
Shedeur was gifted the car in high school by his dad. However, the former Buffs quarterback revealed that he’d be “smelling nothing but gasoline” when he arrived at school in the “old school” machine each morning. His father swiftly came to the defense of his $318,963 car, describing its classic appeal.
Deion said that Shedeur just didn’t “understand the complexity and the level” of the car he had the privilege of using.
“[The 1989] SEC 560 was the biggest Benz that they featured… [it] could only be a drop-top if you sent it to a factory to get it cut. That was another [$15,000-$20,000] just to get the top cut off to convert it into a convertible… that was my first high-level whip that I paid for… when I was going to the pros,” Deion explained passionately on Reach the People Media.
Coach Prime added that he “blessed” Shedeur with the car, which has only run “like 79,000 miles”. He then dispelled Shedeur’s claim about it smelling terribly.
“He said, ‘that car smell like gas’… which I don’t remember. I don’t recall that, because the car was in perfect condition. May [have] needed to be run a little bit, but it was in great condition… That was a gift to me before I signed, cause I knew I was getting ready to come into the bag,” said Deion.
And “come into the bag” he did. In his senior year of college, Deion had already started making more money than his peers could dream of after he signed with the New York Yankees.
“I had played six weeks in the summer [for the Yankees] and made a ton of money. And then, I know I’m going to be a top-five pick in the Draft going into my senior year,” he once told Shannon Sharpe.
In the 1989 NFL Draft, the Atlanta Falcons picked Deion early in the first round, offering him a five-year contract that paid him $4.4 million in salary and bonuses.
Deion had once revealed how “ignorant and showy he had been back” when he entered the NFL. He had bought the Mercedes to announce his arrival. He also revealed that his “first license plate said ‘Millionaire at 21′.”
Shedeur got access to the bag at a younger age than Deion courtesy of college football’s NIL initiative. However, his status as a top-five NFL Draft selection has never been more uncertain.
Two weeks ago, ESPN’s Field Yates projected him to go to the Las Vegas Raiders at No. 6 overall. He would have a higher draft capital than Deion if he is chosen with a top-four choice. The 2025 NFL Draft takes place Apr. 24-26.
