Deion Sanders has become a defensive back...

Deion Sanders has become a defensive back again, having left the New York Yankees for the rest of the baseball season to begin preparing to play football for the Atlanta Falcons.

“I’m leaving. I’m going to football,” said Sanders as he cleaned out his locker. “Maybe I’ll be back next year with the Yankees.”

Sanders, the Yankees and the Falcons had been involved in a wrangle over contracts and service responsibilities.

He had been seeking a $1-million contract for the 1991 baseball season, but the Yankees rejected that on Monday and broke off talks.

Sanders was hitting .158 for the Yankees, the lowest average of any major leaguer with at least 125 at-bats.