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By Stephen Baker CPKSports Senior Writer

When Deion Sanders retired at the age off 33 this weekend, his team was ecstatic. The Redskins can use the money they will save on his salary to sign their first two picks in the draft, Rod Gardner and Fred Smoot. It ends the career of one of the most flamboyant players in the game's history.

He was a two-sport star in the mold of Bo Jackson; only Bo was actually good at baseball, while Deion hit an empty .220 on his career. He is the first, and only, man to have a World Series ring and Super Bowl ring. He is one of the most recognizable names in sports, yet he will not really be missed by anyone except sportswriters looking for easy copy.

Deion often symbolized everything that is wrong with professional sports. To call him a self-centered egotist is a gross understatement. He is the blueprint by which petulant sports stars now mold themselves. He made brash statements, he wore loud clothes, he recorded truly terrible pop records, and he thought only of himself. He was the modern athlete. Deion seemingly invented the technique of following the biggest contract and then telling all of us God made the choice for him. Funny how God always wanted Deion to take the salary with the most zeros behind it.

There are people who will tell you Deion is the greatest cover corner of all-time. They at least have a case, but they are still wrong. Anyone who calls him the greatest cornerback of all-time has swallowed a large hunk of hype as the truth. I've got three words for you: Night Train Lane.

Lane had 68 career interceptions and was also a ferocious hitter. Deion has 48 career picks and a mere 473 career tackles. And before you use the old, "quarterbacks didn't throw to Deion's side" line, remember Deion's career highs in interceptions took place in 1993 and 1994, the peak of his career. And in those two years, he totaled 13 picks. A nice total, but still less than Lane's 1952 season. Deion couldn't make a tackle if his life depended on it.

Among his contemporaries, Deion has only two men his class: Rod Woodson and Darrel Green. Both of those men have more interceptions, more pass deflections, more sacks, more tackles, and now will both have longer careers.

Sanders also has a fine reputation as a return man, but his averages don't come anywhere near the all-time top 50. His return averages are only slightly better than the less-heralded Woodson, and worse than Darrel Green, who gave up special teams about a decade ago.

On the field, Sanders did one thing better than any corner in history, and it probably explains his vastly inflated reputation. He scored a lot. Twenty-eight touchdowns to be precise, which almost tops Green and Woodson's production combined. When Deion did pick up a loose ball or make an interception, good things happened. And he high-stepped the ball into the end zone. Deion's career can be perfectly summed up in one play in 1991, when he high-stepped across the goal line, only to pull a hamstring and miss his next start.

In fact, Sanders didn't achieve the reputation as the best corner in the game until he got the heck out of Atlanta. Teams didn't throw at him then because his teams were lousy. He then played in San Francisco for one season, collected a Super Bowl title, and strutted over to Dallas where he would win another. Simply put, he joined the best teams in the league that probably would have won without him. He was never an integral part of a champion because he was always a mercenary, just a hired hand brought on to an already established nucleus. When he was part of the nucleus, as in Atlanta, he failed.

Sanders will go into the Hall of Fame. But it's hard to find a football fan that loved him, because Deion was always too busy loving himself. The lingering question from his career is a simple one: did he make football a better game? I'd have to say no.

Article courtesy of CPKSports.com