Deion Sanders is a man of many talents, and his confidence is what makes him stand out on television as well. His happy-go-lucky persona and ability to command attention is there for everyone to see when he has a microphone in his hand. However, beyond his jovial self, there was a dark chapter that the Colorado Buffaloes head coach overcame. During an interview in 2024, Coach Prime opened up about one such period in his life that almost made him take an extreme step.
“I was on the side of the highway trying to kill myself,” he shared on the All The Smoke podcast. “I was trying to get that stuff together and I couldn’t. And I was playing baseball at the time, man. And going through my first divorce. So now your kids are taken from you. And you know, that’s the only thing you feel like love you. So I’m like, dang, my kid’s gone.”
The time Deion referred to in the podcast was in 1997. He married Carolyn Chambers in 1989. Nine years after getting married, they parted ways. By then, they were parents to Deiondra Sanders (born in 1992) and Deion Sanders Jr. (born in 1993).
Both their children have spoken about what it was like to live with divorced parents.
“I think just as I got older, I got to see people in the same home, and I just always wanted to experience that,” Deiondra Sanders said on a podcast with Lecrae. “Like, I grew up great. Like my mom, great mom, dad, great dad. But it’s like, what would it have been like if I was in the same home?”
Even the eldest son of Coach Prime shared his experience while giving his father some credit.
“But my dad was always there, though,” Deion Jr. said on Mr.Organik’s YouTube channel. “He always showed up to everything, every game, every this, every that. He still was a present father, so I don’t want people thinking he wasn’t. He was always there.”
While both his children still remain close to him, at the time of the divorce certainly things would have seemed different, which is what pushed him to think of the extreme.
This is not the first time that Deion opened up about being suic-dal. During an interview with CBS’ NFL Today back in 1998, he shared what he went through.
“I attempted suic-de, but God had his hands on me,” Sanders said. “I ran the car off the cliff, and it was like a 40- 30-foot drop. The car went down and hit and there wasn’t a scratch on me or on the car.”
He was driving “about 65 or 70 mph” at the time. Turns out that Deion really tried to find happiness but still was left with a feeling of void within.
“You try to fulfill your time and your needs,” he said. “I was just empty. I tried cars, jewelry, clothes, women, money. Everything, nothing could fulfill me. I know who I am, what I am, where I’m going and how to get there.”
In another interview on Journey’s of Faith podcast back in 2019, Deion opened up about the same feeling. He was living in a 14,000-square-foot house, yet did not feel at home. He had 10 cars parked in his garage but fought hard with himself to get out of his room.
However, soon Deion found a reason to live life all over again. He rededicated himself to Christianity. His agent connected him with a Columbus, Ohio, pastor who helped him achieve a better balance in life through what he described as “spiritual help.”
Having gone through that dark phase himself, he has been vocal about discussing the importance of mental health with his players. In May 2021, he founded Hall of Fame Behavioral Health, an organization dedicated to supporting the mental and emotional well-being of current and former athletes and their families.
Deion also voiced his frustration with the NCAA after offensive lineman Tyler Brown was denied immediate eligibility following his transfer from Jackson State.
“Do you really care (about mental health), or are you saying you care? Are you caring when it’s convenient?” Coach Prime dropped a stern statement. “Or when it’s profitable?”