“Y’all can’t tell me Legacies and last names don’t matter,” were the words of Deiondra Sanders just about a month ago. While no arguments were made then, little did she fathom that her brother Deion Sanders Jr. would be the first to differ. The Sanders family name has had its benefits for their heirs. However, before that, they had to battle through some adversities to get to the point of etching their identity, scraping the one they had before of just being Deion Sanders’ kids.

If not anyone, Deion Sanders Jr. surely had this phase in his life, something that he talked about so candidly for the first time in an interview. In a conversation with Reach the People Media aired on July 25, Bucky opened up on how Sanders’ last name has rather proved to be a curse for him growing up. Bucky confessed about getting in trouble as a kid for things that other students got a free pass for.

The reason being ‘he is Deion Sanders’ son’. “At SMU, we’re all freshmen and say you get in trouble in school and say we both got in trouble in class And it’s like okay, Darius got into trouble he’s immature. I got in trouble for, in that same the same time as you doing the same thing, we got in trouble by the same teacher but for some reason, I got in trouble because I’m Deion Jr.” Bucky iterated, sharing his struggles as a freshman at SMU.

One might think that the reputation of being ‘Deion Sanders’ son’ preceding him would be a reason for Jr. leaving football altogether. But that’s now what Bucky’s real problem is.

The real reason behind Deion Sanders Jr.’s complaint is his family name

Bucky’s problem was with people evaluating him based solely on the fact that he was Deion Sanders’ son and not for the skills he possessed. More than that, Bucky was frustrated by the fact that people were trying to judge him, bring him down, and even condemn him at times, for something that his father had “worked his a** off to make.”

“It’s like everyone out there strives to work hard and just create a life where their kids don’t have to live the life they lived growing up, you know. They work hard to make sure their family is straight but when somebody does that actually, y’all hate,” Deion Sanders Jr. said, highlighting the main problem he had with people troubling him because of his family name.

Hence, Sanders Jr. had to wade through some tough times—times when he cried all night long while wandering through the streets at 3 am, and more. Despite it all, Sanders Jr. made it to where he is today.