Cowboys Release Deion Sanders Essay, Research Paper

Cowboys Release Deion Sanders

IRVING, Texas (Reuters) – The Dallas Cowboys released flashy star cornerback Deion Sanders Friday but did not rule out the

possibility of re-signing him to a restructured contract.

The announcement that the dynamic cornerback and kick returner had been cut was posted on the team’s web site and was not

unexpected as the Cowboys needed to free up room under the salary cap.

“Deion was a great player for us. He was a major contributor in our Super Bowl team and he has been a major contributor to

the success we’ve had in recent years,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. “But because of salary-cap reasons, we just can’t

afford to keep him under his current contract.”

Had Sanders been on the roster Saturday, the Cowboys would have had to pay him a base salary of $13 million. Sanders will now count for $2.2

million on this year’s cap and $3.2 million on the 2001 salary cap.

The Cowboys prepared for Sanders’s departure by selecting three cornerbacks in the recent draft and signing free agent Ryan McNeil, who

played for Cleveland last season.

Cowboys Open To Sanders Return

The 32-year-old Sanders, the only athlete to play in both the Super Bowl and baseball’s World Series, is free to shop

his talents but he could also end up back in Dallas.

“I think that’s still a possibility,” Jones said. “The door is still open for that to happen and I wouldn’t necessarily

rule that out.”

The Washington Redskins, Denver Broncos and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are believed to be interested in Sanders, who joined the Cowboys in

1995 by signing a five-year, $35 million contract.

Sanders, whose flashy style on and off the field earned him the nickname “Prime Time,” won back-to-back Super Bowls, the first with the San

Francisco 49ers following the 1994 season and with Dallas to cap the 1995 campaign after spending his first five seasons in the NFL cellar with

the Atlanta Falcons.

Injuries have slowed the one-time fastest player in the NFL somewhat, but did nothing to dampen his enthusiasm for the spotlight. In recent

seasons, the two-sport star became a two-way football player, trying his hand as a wide receiver. Sanders has scored seven touchdowns playing

offense for the Cowboys.

Sanders, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his knee in January, reportedly angered the Cowboys by attempting a baseball comeback this

spring with the Cincinnati Reds.

But he cut short his return to baseball in mid-May and returned to Texas to rest the knee.

Sanders, who appeared in the World Series in 1992 for the Atlanta Braves, has played baseball for the New York Yankees, and San Francisco

Giants as well as Atlanta and Cincinnati.

He is a .266 lifetime hitter with 38 home runs, 164 RBI and 183 stolen bases in 609 games.

Bibliography

(Reuters)