Prime Time Drama: When the Yankees Tried to Steal Deion Sanders Mid-Game, Much to Bobby Bowden's Fury!

Deion Sanders, "Prime Time" himself, is a man of many incredible stories, but few are as legendary and genuinely hilarious as the one involving the New York Yankees and his formidable college coach, Bobby Bowden. It's a tale that perfectly encapsulates the audacious ambition of the Yankees, the fierce protectiveness of a Hall of Fame coach, and the unique, magnetic pull of Deion Sanders.

Picture this: It's the late 1980s, and Deion Sanders is a two-sport phenom at Florida State University, dazzling on both the football field and the baseball diamond.

The New York Yankees, ever the aggressive pursuers of talent, had their sights set firmly on "Neon Deion." Their method of recruitment? Unconventional, to say the least.

Sanders recently recounted the incident, explaining how the Yankees didn't just send scouts; they sent an entire car – a limo, no less – directly to the Florida State campus, with the explicit intention of whisking him away to sign a professional contract.

The catch? It was during an FSU spring football game.

"I'm playing a spring game, and they're like, 'Prime, the Yankees are here. They want to sign you,'" Sanders chuckled, recalling the unbelievable scenario. The sheer audacity of the Yankees to interrupt a college football game to sign a player mid-event is a testament to their unwavering desire to land Sanders.

However, one man was decidedly not amused by this brazen maneuver: legendary Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden.

Bowden, known for his folksy charm but also his iron will, saw red. He marched straight to the car, confronted the Yankees' representatives, and delivered a now-iconic, furious declaration. As Sanders remembers, Bowden pointed directly at him and, with palpable anger, exclaimed, "That is my player! You are not taking my player!"

The scene must have been something out of a movie: a high-stakes tug-of-war between a powerhouse MLB franchise and an iconic college football program, with the future "Prime Time" caught in the middle.

Sanders, in the end, chose to honor his commitment to Florida State, playing another season of both football and baseball, further cementing his legend as a dual-sport collegiate star.

Ultimately, the Yankees did get their man, signing Sanders in 1989 after his collegiate career. But the story of their almost-successful mid-game heist, and Bobby Bowden's legendary protective outburst, remains a hilarious and heartwarming reminder of a unique era in sports, and the unforgettable characters who shaped it.