Tom Glavine remembers when Deion Sanders owned the city of Atlanta while playing for Falcons, Braves

Deion Sanders insists that his Colorado team’s opener against Georgia Tech in Atlanta is just another game. Sure, Prime Time was the city’s biggest star during his early playing days. That was over 30 years ago though. Nowadays, he’s focused on being Coach Prime. 

"I have no nostalgia to me. I'm not built like that," Sanders told media leading up to Thursday’s matchup. 

Coach Prime may tell the media that a return to Atlanta doesn’t mean anything special. But those seats will be filled by plenty of fans who were Tomahawk chopping and high-stepping during the 90’s, back when he ruled the city.

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Prime Time was a persona, Deion Sanders was a chill person

Sanders was selected by the Falcons with the fifth pick in the 1989 draft, joining an Atlanta sports scene that was stuck in the doldrums. The Falcons hadn’t posted a winning season since 1982. The Braves were routinely losing 90 to 100 games. 

Things changed immediately upon Sanders’ NFL debut against the Los Angeles Rams. He returned a punt 68 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter, establishing himself as an electric playmaker. Over his five seasons in Atlanta, he recorded 24 interceptions, returning three for touchdowns and earning three Pro Bowl selections. 

September 10, 1989: In his first NFL regular season game, Deion Sanders returns a punt 68-yards for a touchdown against the Rams at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. pic.twitter.com/6qAAAGrUvC

Braves Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Glavine came to the city two years before Sanders ran that first touchdown back. As a football fan and local resident, he kept an eye on Sanders. 

"It was pretty apparent pretty quick what he brought to the table," Glavine told The Sporting News. "It brought a level of excitement to the Atlanta area surrounding the sport that hadn’t really seen much else since I’d been there."

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Alongside his superb play, Sanders was cultivating his Prime Time persona, high-stepping and dancing in the end zone. Music star MC Hammer would show up on the sidelines to support the Falcons. Sanders appeared in Hammer’s "2 Legit 2 Quit" music video. 

Sanders’ penchant for showmanship made Glavine a skeptic when Sanders joined the Braves in 1991. 

"It was definitely one of those situations where if you don’t know Deion, all you saw was Prime Time, the guy that was in front of the camera," Glavine said. "I was guilty of judging a book by its cover when it came to that. I wasn’t sure what he was going to be like. But once you met him and got to know him, and you’re in that inner circle a little bit, it was a much different persona than when he was in front of the camera.

"When he got in the locker room with us he was kind of chill and just wanted to be one of the guys and have fun."

Glavine was endlessly amused by Sanders’ competition with John Smoltz and Steve Avery. 

"They used to give each other a crazy amount of crap," Glavine laughed. "He would always talk about playing football, and Avery would always tell him, 'How tired can you be, nobody ever throws the football to your side of the field. You don’t tackle anybody!' He would always give Deion a hard time.

"[Deion] was a very fun, good-natured guy and he clearly loved to have a good time. He was really good, he knew he was really good, he could back it up, and he had a lot of fun doing it."

© Manny Rubio-Imagn Images

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Prime Time took over Atlanta

Sanders joined the Braves while they were peaking, making the World Series with him in 1991 and 1992. He helped popularize FSU’s iconic Tomahawk Chop, bringing a tradition into the stands that made Atlanta a nightmare for opponents to play in.

"It’s one of those things that took on a life of its own," Glavine recalled. "We didn’t really have that before Deion got there. When Deion came, it started out small, sporadic. But as time went on, it grew into a thing. For us, home team players, when you had 50,000 people at Fulton County Stadium doing that, it was pretty awesome."

The chop not only invigorated Braves players, it frustrated their opponents. 

"I know in talking to guys that I played against over the years, they would talk about it. It was that sense of, 'Oh god, here we go.' It signified momentum on our side," Glavine said. "It made it a real home field advantage for us."

As the Braves made back-to-back World Series appearances in 1991 and 1992, the mania around Sanders ballooned. The Falcons had to shut down the airport to prevent fans from swarming them on their flights home. Glavine recalled showing up to hotels on road trips at 3 in the morning and seeing fans patiently lined up for autographs. 

Critics questioned whether Prime Time was creating a circus by trying to play two sports at once. In the locker room though, Braves players viewed it with admiration rather than resentment. 

"Honestly, I don’t remember that being an issue for us players," Glavine said. "It was more the nuisance of having to deal with [the media], like people were trying to create controversy for us. We thought it was great. My god, if the guy is good enough to be doing both, why not try to do it? We all thought it was pretty cool and pretty unbelievable."

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Sanders may have left the Falcons after 1993 and the Braves after 1994, but his impact on the city remains. He brought a swagger and sense of fun that still exists in Atlanta sports. 

Glavine still sees the remnants of Sanders’ legacy wherever he goes. Fans still tomahawk chop at him when they see him or other Braves of that era in public. 

"One of the main places I see it is at Cooperstown. That’s what people do when they see me, Smoltzy, and Maddux. Our era of players were the guys it really took off with and had the biggest impact on."

Decades later, Glavine still wonders what might have been had Sanders dedicated himself solely to the diamond.

"He was a phenomenal football player. I always wonder how good he could have been at baseball if it was his sole priority," Glavine said. "He had all the tools. He could run, he could hit, he had some power. I can assure you that as a pitcher, any time you ended up on base and Deion was coming up, it was a scary thought thinking he was going to hit a ball in the gap. He was probably going to catch you by the time you got to third base. It was like, 'You better hurry up.'"

When Sanders steps out onto Bobby Dodd Stadium, he may claim that it’s just another game on the schedule. For those watching in the stands though, they will always remember his impact on the city. Coach Prime may not feel nostalgia, but how could the rest of us not?

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