Deion Sanders And NIL - What If It Had Been Around When He Played At Florida State?

Deion Sanders was college football's first true rock star who fully embraced the moniker and the nickname - "Prime Time." That happened before and during his reign as a two-time All-American cornerback and Thorpe Award winner at Florida State in 1987 and '88.

Heisman Trophy tailbacks Bo Jackson (1985) and Herschel Walker (1982) were superstars before Sanders, but were each quiet and reluctant celebrities. Deion Sanders hugged celebrity. Linebacker Brian Bosworth was a rock star at Oklahoma from 1984-86 and a two-time Butkus Award winner. He too embraced it, but his star never was as bright as Sanders, and it quickly dimmed.

Deion Discusses NIL, Florida State With Dan Patrick

Imagine how much money Sanders would have made had the 2-year-old Name, Image & Likeness been around when he played. What kind of legal, multi-million, NIL deal would he have garnered?

"Oh my God," Sanders said on the Dan Patrick Show on Sirius Radio Tuesday when asked how he would've done financially with NIL. "That would've been spectacular. You only see maybe several kids in the whole country with big NIL deals."

So, there would have been that much more for him. I'm thinking he would have been making Olivia Dunne-type NIL money.

Sanders is doing fine financially now as the Colorado Buffaloes football coach with a salary of $5.5 million a year. He made much more than that in a Pro Football Hall of Fame career in the NFL.

Colorado coach Deion Sanders has a word with his son Shedeur Sanders during game against Oregon State at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado, on Saturday. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)

The Buffaloes (4-5, 1-5 Pac-12) host Arizona (6-3, 4-2 Pac-12) on Saturday (2 p.m., Pac-12 Network).

What Car Would Deion Sanders Have Had At Florida State?

Patrick asked what car he would've been driving at Florida State, which was known back in the day as "Free Shoes University" for a certain shopping spree at an athletic shoe store for the football players in 1994.

After a pause, Sanders said, "I probably would've had a driver." Patrick laughed.

"You would have had a chauffer," Patrick said.

"Yeah, I would've had a driver," Deion Sanders said. "Let's make sure we get that straight. I would've had a driver for sure."