After Missing 18 Days, Sanders Finally Reports to the Falcons

Two weeks after his $2-million deal with the New York Yankees fell through, Deion Sanders showed up at the Atlanta Falcons’ training complex--minus $37,000 in fines.

Sanders was Atlanta’s No. 1 draft choice last year and led the Falcons with five interceptions. He was fined $1,500 for each day of training camp he missed as well as $10,000 for missing the team’s minicamp last month.

He practiced in the afternoon after passing a physical exam in the morning.

Sanders spent most of the summer playing baseball, but returned to football after the Yankees decided against offering him a contract extension that would have made him a full-time baseball player through 1991.

The Falcons had threatened to sue the Yankees for more than $2.6 million if Sanders, who signed a 4-year, $4.4 million contract with Atlanta last year, went though with his plans to play baseball.

Sanders missed 18 days of practice.

“I took the time off to rest my body. There isn’t one other man in this world who knows what your body goes through,” Sanders said. “I would pay as much as it would have taken to get my body back right.”