Deion Sanders is back with the NFL! Well, not just in the way some Cowboys fans would’ve wanted. Up until the appointment of Brain Schottenheimer, the Cowboys fans were led to believe that their franchise might be getting Prime Time. Phone calls with the owner and teases in the interviews had raised hopes of Sanders’ return to Dallas and even though those dreams remain unfulfilled for now, Sanders will be joining NFL players and legends very soon.

The NFL is serving up a double feature this season where the gridiron meets the glitz in a way that’s as cinematic as a Tarantino flick. With Super Bowl LIX on the horizon, the league’s latest bombshell comes wrapped in pure prime-time style. The NFL Honors will take place on Thursday at the Saenger Theater in New Orleans. The two-hour primetime awards special recognizes the NFL’s best players, performances, and plays from the 2024 NFL season and the list of award presenters is a mix of football legacy and Hollywood glamor.

Last year, Deion Sanders teamed up with American singer Janelle Monae to present Cleveland’s Myles Garrett with the Defensive Player of the Year award in Las Vegas. And now the NFL has announced that Coach Prime will be back on the stage for the 14th edition of the NFL Honors as one of the award presenters on the night.

Apart from Sanders, award presenters will include NFL players and legends Drew Brees, Cam Bynum, Ja’Marr Chase, Steve Gleason, Cam Heyward, Justin Jefferson, Jim Kelly, Ray Lewis, Micah Parsons, Deion Sanders, and Andrew Whitworth while former NFL coach Bill Belichick, now the HC at UNC also makes the list. They will be joined by celebrities like Nikki Glaser, Jon Hamm, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Shaboozey. But that’s not all.

Multi-platinum rapper and NFL fan Snoop Dogg will serve as this year’s host, which is bound to be an entertaining prospect. Over 20 individuals will be recognized with awards at NFL Honors, from MVP to Coach of the Year. Meanwhile, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025 will also be announced on the night, which will be more exclusive thanks to Deion Sanders.

Almost three years ago, Sanders claimed that “the Hall of Fame ain’t the Hall of Fame no more.” He believed like many others, that many borderline candidates were being enshrined in Canton, Ohio. Notably, The Hall inducted 179 new members from 2000 to 2024, a significant increase from 118 over the previous 25-year period. Moreover, the maximum of five modern-era candidates have been selected per year for 17 straight years. This average was 4.1 per year over the previous 40-year period. This led Sanders to question whether he deserved “a different color jacket” saying, “I’m just saying what you all are thinking and a lot of you all Hall of Famers are thinking the same thing. This thing is becoming a free-for-all now, man.” It seems the Hall agreed with him.

In August 2024, it announced that it would be implementing stricter rules to “help ensure that membership in the Hall of Fame remains elite.” According to the new rules, the 15 finalists will be reduced to seven before each voter then picks five of the seven for induction. The candidates must receive 80 percent of the vote for inclusion, although if fewer than three make that threshold the three with the most votes are selected.

Sanders coming off a successful second season for Sanders with the Buffs after he led them to their first bowl game since 2020. Sanders was able to transform the program from a rough 4–8 in 2023 to a turning point 9–3 in 2024, which set the rumor mill churning about him moving to the NFL.

The Buffs HC was linked with the Cowboys vacancy and even got on a call with Jerry Jones fueling the speculation. However, despite that he loves and believes in Jones, he has stayed put in Colorado. In fact, he might have shut the door entirely on ever coaching in the NFL.

On his show “We Got Time Today,” Sanders opened up about rigorous practices in Dallas along with fellow Hall of Famer, Troy Aikman. He said the practice methods of today mean he won’t be able to coach in the NFL. “That’s how we practiced. I know it’s cute, but I couldn’t coach pro ball today. The way they practice now, I couldn’t handle it. As a man and a football enthusiast, I care deeply about the game. The game has still provided for me and Troy, but I couldn’t let things slide the way they do now. That would be tough,” he said.

While Deion is staying with the Buffs, there is at least one member of his family headed to the NFL.

His son Shedeuer is slated to be one of the top picks in the upcoming draft and the spotlight will be on him and the team that picks him. But there is still time for that. For now, Shedeur has picked his Super Bowl LIX favorite.

Quarterback coup & the new era

With a staggering 2024 season, Shedeur had smashed Colorado’s single-season passing mark with 4,134 yards and 37 TDs—totaling 7,364 passing yards with a 71.8% completion rate, 64 TDs, 13 INTs, and 8 rushing TDs. This isn’t just college ball; it’s a prelude to first-round NFL Draft dreams.

But before embarking on his own NFL dreams, he would be watching the Chiefs take on the Eagles and he has already picked a favorite. Speaking on his 2Legendary podcast last week, Sanders made it clear that he’s rooting for the Eagles and cited Saquon Barkley as the man who will make a difference.

“The most important thing in football is being able to run the ball,” Sanders said. “They have Saquon Barkley, so I think they’re able to run the football, establish the run, and get a lot of play-action passes.”

Saquon Barkley, the engine of the Eagles’ offense, has been pure dynamite. In 16 games, Barkley turned 345 rush attempts into 2,005 yards—a slick 5.8 yards per carry—with 13 rushing TDs and even snagged 33 receptions for 278 yards and 2 receiving TDs. Remember that epic Week 12 performance against the Rams? Barkley racked up a franchise-record 255 yards and 2 TDs, leaving everyone in awe.

His postseason heroics—205 yards and 2 TDs in the Divisional Round, plus 118 yards and 3 TDs in the NFC Championship—are the stuff of NFL legend, setting the stage for a showdown that promises fireworks.

As we stand on the brink of Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans, the NFL landscape is as dynamic as ever, with historic rivalries and emerging legends colliding in a most thrilling spectacle.