Deion Sanders didn’t take long to find another media home after leaving NFL Network. And the destination is a surprise.
Barstool Sports announced Wednesday morning that Sanders was joining the outlet, just one day after the Hall of Fame cornerback parted ways with NFL Network. Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand reported that Sanders’ contract with the network had expired and Andrew Marchand of the New York Post followed up to add that the analyst decided against taking a pay cut with a new deal.
The new partnership was revealed with a video Barstool posted to Twitter:
BREAKING NEWS: Primetime. Primetime. Primetime. It's a new age. Primetime has joined Barstool Sports @deionsanders pic.twitter.com/SBnJk7Tpen
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) August 12, 2020
“Now, I have the platform that I can spread what I got to the masses. Oh, baby — thank you!” Sanders said. “Barstool has the young generation of fans I want to help cultivate. I want to mold you. I want to talk to you. I want to speak to you. See, I love to speak my mind and now, baby, I got the platform to do it year-round.”
Should we point out that “spread what I got to the masses” might not be the best choice of phrase amid the COVID-19 pandemic? Most of us are trying to keep the spread down, Deion. But the masses he’s referring to are figurative, the many readers and listeners of Barstool Sports. OK, we know what he meant.
That’s right: listeners, too. Sanders will be doing a podcast as part of his new role and on Wednesday’s Pardon My Take, Dan Katz revealed that he will appear on Sunday episodes in the fall (for “21 minutes,” presumably a nod to Sanders’ NFL jersey number) to discuss the day’s NFL action.
https://twitter.com/thepodcass/status/1293569928180699136
Additionally, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy announced that Sanders would be part of a Sunday NFL pregame show with him and Katz.
Sanders also mentioned that he had “a real opinion on almost every sport,” indicating he won’t only be talking about football with Barstool. That’s obviously a platform he wouldn’t have had at NFL Network. (We’re guessing that he would’ve been able to chime in on college football playing or not, however.) So if anyone were wondering what Prime Time thought about, say, the NBA, those fans will apparently get their wish.
The assumption was that Sanders would pursue a head coaching position in college football after leaving NFL Network, a job he said he would have next year. Last fall, he was reportedly a candidate for the opening at Florida State. Maybe this new job with Barstool will fill the time until then. Or perhaps he’s decided that he enjoys talking and providing commentary a bit more than coaching. (Especially if it pays more.)
Or a future college football coach has hit upon one hell of a way to potentially recruit future players and fans. Sanders made a big point in that video to say he wanted to cultivate and mold fans. Will some of them be high school talent that wants to play for Deion Sanders someday?
[TheWrap]
About Ian Casselberry
Ian is a writer, editor, and podcaster. You can find his work at Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He's written for Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation.