Deion Sanders says he skipped school as a child to 'hustle' baseballs and broken bats

Emmanuel Acho, LeSean McCoy, James Jones and Chase Daniel reflect on what a 4-1 start would mean for Deion Sanders and Colorado.

When Deion Sanders was in the third grade, he says he would often skip school in order to make a quick buck by scavenging local baseball games for sellable scraps.

The Colorado head football coach and NFL Hall of Famer told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday about his childhood escapades with baseball collectibles when he noted a reporter wearing a Kansas City Royals hat. 

"I was hustling balls in the third grade. I used to skip school, bring my little sock. I used to beat everybody running when they hit the home run balls, and I used to get the balls and I used to sell them during the game. That was my hustle. I used to always make sure to bring my teacher the best ball." Sanders said.

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Colorado head coach Deion Sanders speaks during the Big 12 NCAA college football media days in Las Vegas, Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Lucas Peltier)

Sanders was born and raised in Fort Myers, Florida, by his mother Connie Sanders and her husband Willie Knight. Sanders also began playing baseball around that time when he was eight years old, but that didn't stop his entrepreneurship. Sanders specifically chose to gather the collectibles from Royals spring training games in Fort Myers. 

Sanders said Royals great George Brett and Amos Otis were his biggest role models back then.

"I would sit right there when they would come out of the club house and I would get their autographs, and I would beg for cracked bats. Cracked bats was like 10 bucks or $15," Sanders said. "A good home run ball in [batting practice] was like $3.50."

Sanders said he would