A flick of the switch: just like that, "Neon" Deion Sanders is back in the NFL, trying to light up the Ravens

Football Digest, Dec, 2004 by Barry Wilner

And, of course, there is Jordan, who left the Chicago Bulls after winning three straight NBA titles and became a baseball player. A minor-league baseball player. He returned to the Bulls two years later, then led them to three more championships before once again quitting. And in 2001, there he was again, this time with the Washington Wizards for two more seasons. That comeback didn't work out as well, though.

Coaches return even more often, but their jobs aren't quite as physical as playing bump-and-run with Chad Johnson or Hines Ward. Like Jordan, Howe, and Lemieux, Sanders figures to wind up in the Hall of Fame. His work with the Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, and Redskins secured that. Comparing him to the "Neon Deion" of the 1990s isn't fair, but if he provides, say, 75% of what he gave in those years, he will be well worth the investment the Ravens made in him.

"Based on people we've talked to, opinions we trust, I'm sure there's no question he's going to be able to compete. At the level he competed before? There's very few of us that can do filings as well as we did before. At 50, I can attest to that," Billick said when Sanders was signed. "But what he will bring to the table for us will be substantial."

Such as?

"That's the New Orleans type of spice right there," Cleveland Browns safety Earl Little says of Sanders. "Not too many players have that effect."

A Cautionary Tale

THE CLOSEST COMPARISON TO WHAT DEION Sanders is doing on the Baltimore Ravens occurred in 2000, when Reggie White joined the Carolina Panthers.

White, like Sanders, was the best at what he did in his prime, for the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers. He retired as the NFL's career sacks leader (Bruce Smith now holds that distinction), but one year after leaving Green Bay, he came back with Carolina at age 38. White, an ordained minister, was building a home in the area and believed the Charlotte-based Morningstar Ministries would profit from his playing there. He also hoped to build a biblical theme park in Charlotte.

"Having the opportunity to come here, with living here, gave me the opportunity to settle my family," he said at the time. "It's very convenient. Charlotte seemed to be a special place, a spiritual place."

White had a big impact on Green Bay, winning a Super Bowl in January 1997. The Packers generally credited him with opening the franchise's channels to black free agents after he signed with the organization in 1993.

Like Sanders', White's return saw him joining a team with a coach who had won a Super Bowl. George Seifert led the San Francisco 49ers to two NFL titles before winding up in Carolina. And as with Sanders, White saw the opportunity to win.

"I think this team can be really good--that's why I'm even considering being here," White said. "I just felt that this was the right opportunity. I think we can do something here and I can make a difference."

For $20 million over five years--although the team knew he wouldn't play out the entire contract--he needed to be a difference-maker. Things went sour quickly in Charlotte. The Panthers didn't win, and White was a part-time player who made a minimal impact.