The night before Super Bowl XXX, Deion Sanders found himself in a hotel room with Michael Irvin, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Larry Brown, talking business instead of football. Frustrated that Disney wouldn’t budge from its usual $50,000 endorsement fee, the group made a pact. If any one of them won Super Bowl MVP, they wouldn’t deliver the iconic “I’m going to Disney World!” line unless the price doubled to $100,000. Otherwise, no deal. Still, Sanders recalled Aikman quietly doubting whether Irvin would actually stick to the agreement.

“We were so confident that I had a meeting with Michael Irvin, Troy Aikman, and Emmitt about Disney,” Sanders told Rich Eisen. “I was like, ‘Guys, look, they’re going to come to us. They usually get 50. We’re saying we want a hundred or we’re not doing it. Alright, we want a 100.’ I’m kind to conduct business because I know we’re going to win and they’re going to come to one of us with we want to go to Disney World, and we shook on it, and we walked away, and Troy said, ‘Michael is going to short-change his, right?'”

Sanders was referring to the night before the Super Bowl matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Traditionally, Disney paid between $50,000 and $75,000 for the Super Bowl MVP to appear in its commercial and say the now-famous slogan. The ritual traces back to Super Bowl XXI, when Phil Simms was asked after winning MVP:

“Phil Simms, you’ve just won the Super Bowl. What are you doing next?”

His response, “I’m going to Disney World!” earned him $75,000 and launched a long-running marketing tradition. However, by the time Dallas was set to face Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XXX, Sanders, Irvin, Aikman, Smith, and Brown were fed up with the standard payout and wanted $100,000, leading to the pact. Still, Aikman wasn’t entirely convinced everyone would follow through.

The Cowboys, however, ultimately went on to win 27–17. None of Sanders, Irvin, Aikman, or Smith claimed Super Bowl MVP honors. Instead, Brown earned the award after recording two interceptions. Moments later, Disney representatives rushed to Brown on the field to film the commercial. Brown, meanwhile, declined on the spot.

While it has never been officially confirmed whether Brown turned it down strictly over compensation, Sanders’ account suggests money was at least part of the equation. After all, as Brown passed, Disney pivoted to Smith. And to his credit, the former Cowboys’ running back, who rushed for 49 yards on 18 carries and scored two touchdowns, agreed to do the commercial, keeping the tradition alive.

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Deion Sanders didn’t expect himself to win the Super Bowl MVP

Deion Sanders had already put the Cowboys in the driver’s seat during the first quarter of Super Bowl XXX against the Steelers. Lined up as an offensive weapon early, the Cowboys’ dual-threat star made his presence felt quickly. After two Emmitt Smith runs, Troy Aikman completed two short passes. First to Michael Irvin for 11 yards, and then to Sanders. Sanders hauled it in for a 47-yard gain.

Years later, during his conversation with Rich Eisen, Sanders was asked whether that play made him think about the iconic Disney World moment. His answer was blunt. He didn’t believe it was enough. In his mind, one more play like that was needed to secure Super Bowl MVP.

“No, I didn’t do enough,” he said. “I needed one more big play.”

Even so, the damage was already done. Sanders’ 47-yard reception flipped the momentum firmly in Dallas’ favor. Just four plays later, the Cowboys capped the drive with a three-yard touchdown pass to Jay Novacek.

In the process, Sanders etched his name into Super Bowl history. He became the only player to record both a Super Bowl reception on offense and a Super Bowl interception on defense, the latter coming a year earlier with the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX.

Fast forward, and Sanders is now serving as the HC of the Colorado Buffaloes following his Hall of Fame career. As for Dallas, that Super Bowl victory over Pittsburgh remains the franchise’s most recent championship to date.