The Real Story Behind Deion Sanders' Famous Nickname

It seems like getting a nickname is pretty much a rite of passage if you're one of the biggest names in sports. There have been plenty of big time sports stars who have gone by a moniker other than the name on their birth certificate, but how do these names actually come about? Well, some are pretty obvious (like Alex Rodriguez going by A-Rod or O.J. Simpson being known as The Juice), but there are some that take a little more explaining.

One of those lesser known stories? Deion Sanders. As you'll probably already know, Sanders was a total machine during his 14-year NFL career, playing for several different teams over the years, including the Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, and Baltimore Ravens. But, during that time, Sanders wasn't known as Deion or even Sanders, oh no. He actually went by the nickname Prime Time, which later morphed into Coach Prime when he hung up his NFL cleats and started work as a football coach. 

But where exactly did the moniker that's followed him for years first come from and how did it all start?

Deion Sanders being known as Coach Prime goes far beyond his coaching career — or even his NFL career! Sanders originally got the name all the way back in high school when it was bestowed on him by a childhood friend. He explained the origin of the nickname during an appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" in February 2022 after Fallon asked why he didn't go by Neon Deion. "I'd already earned Prime Time in high school. I dropped, like, 37 that night, had two dunks back-to-back, curl was wet, looked dry. We were on our way home on the bus, and my Homie says, 'You know what, man? You're Prime Time.' I said, 'You're right.'" And the rest, as they say, is history — and something the football legend is pretty proud of. "I'm from the inner city. You can't just give us a nickname, you've got to earn that thing, and I earned it. Prime Time," he added. For those unaware, Prime Time is a TV term that describes the main hours people are tuning in (usually between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m., per Nielsen) when all the biggest and most entertaining shows are on.

Of course, the nickname followed Sanders throughout his incredibly successful career and eventually morphed into Coach Prime when he became a coach after retiring from his playing days, something he insisted continued on with him.

When Deion Sanders started out working as a coach at Jackson State University, he made it pretty clear he wanted to go by Coach Prime, and nothing else. Sanders, erm, we mean Coach Prime, posted a video on Twitter in September 2020 to announce his big career move, writing alongside it, "Moving forward only address me as 'COACH PRIME' @GoJSUTigers get ready it's official!! I BELIEVE!!! DO YOU?? @JacksonStateU." He doubled down on everyone referring to him by that moniker in the video too, stating, "It's done. I think the ink has dried. It has happened. Start calling me Coach Prime from now on because I'm not going to answer to anything else."

And now, several decades after it originated, the nickname has become so much more than that. In fact, "Coach Prime" is now a docuseries, as it's the title of the Amazon Original series that follows Sanders and his work with the Jackson State University Tigers. The four-episode first season gives a glimpse insider Sanders' third year with the team (and even contained the revelation Sanders had to have some toes amputated!) and debuted on the streaming service in December 2022, the same month Sanders made the move to coach at the University of Colorado Boulder.