Deion Shows He Knows the Score, Takes Falcon Offer

Deion knows baseball. Deion knows football, too -- and starting Thursday, he hopes to prove it.

Apparently hoping to join Bo Jackson as a man in the know in two professional sports, outfielder-defensive back Deion Sanders left the New York Yankees Wednesday night after the Atlanta Falcons announced they had reached a tentative contract agreement with his agent. Sanders, the fifth overall pick in the 1989 National Football League draft, was about to play left field for the Yankees against the Mariners when the agreement was thrashed out.

Falcons spokesman Charlie Taylor said the agreement came at about 10 p.m. EDT after eight hours of negotiations in Suwanee, Ga., between team financial officer Jim Hay and Sanders’ agent, Steve Zucker.

No contract details were released. Sanders, a 6-1, 195-pound defensive back, had wanted a six-year, $10.75-million contract. The Falcons offered a five-year deal valued at about $4 million, according to published reports.

Taylor said the Falcons wanted Sanders in training camp Thursday to take his physical and begin practice. After striking out in the sixth inning Wednesday night, Sanders was seen on the telecast at 11:20 p.m. shaking hands with teammates and leaving the Yankees’ bench, carrying two bats and his glove. Luis Polonia replaced Sanders in left in the bottom of the inning.

Sanders, led by two police officers, then headed for a waiting cab and the airport, where he was believed to be headed for Atlanta. There were two late-evening flights from Seattle to Atlanta.

“I’m very excited,” he said, “but I’m also very disappointed to be leaving the Yankees at this moment ... The Yankees have been good to me. Mr. Steinbrenner has been very good and I will definitely be back.”

Making the transition from baseball hitter to ball-carrier hitter, he added, “I’d like to play tomorrow if they had a game.” The Falcons open the season Sunday at home against the Rams.

Less than 24 hours before the agreement, Sanders was a confused 22-year-old. He had ripped a two-run homer and collected his third and fourth RBI of the game with one of his two doubles in a 12-2 rout of the Mariners Tuesday night. And yet the glow of satisfaction he earned faded as he departed the playing field.

He knew Wednesday would be a day of anxiety for him. Zucker, his football agent, was to meet with the Falcons. Sanders sensed that the Packers’ signing of No. 2 overall pick Tony Mandarich on Tuesday could serve as the springboard for the Falcons making him, the No. 5 selection, an offer he couldn’t refuse.

So what does Sanders’ athletic future hold? Baseball or football? Or both?

“I will definitely be back in spring training,” Sanders said before last night’s game. “I’m not going to give up the game of baseball.”