Deion Sanders Blasts Pro Football Hall of Fame for Being 'Free-for-All'

By Brian Jones

Deion Sanders has a problem with the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The legendary NFL cornerback who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011, recently went on a rant about how easy it is for former players to be enshrined in Canton, Ohio. Sanders believes that the Hall of Fame should be split into which legendary players are better by giving them different color jackets. 

"The Hall of Fame ain't the Hall of Fame no more," Sanders said, per CBS Sports. "I love it, I respect it, I admire it. I think all the guys who are inducted are definitely deserving, but it needs to be a different color jacket. My jacket's gotta be a different color." Anyone who is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame receives a gold jacket along with a ring. But Sanders says there needs to be a top tier of the Hall of Fame that includes just 22 players. 

"There needs to be a starting 11, there needs to be an upper room," Sanders said. "My [bust] don't belong with some of these other [busts] that's in the Hall of Fame. I'm sorry, I'm just being honest. I'm just saying what you all are thinking and a lot of you all Hall of Famers are thinking the same thing. This thing is becoming a free-for-all now, man."

Sanders then went on to say which players should be in the Hall of Fame. "That's what the Hall of Fame is, a game-changer," Sanders said. "Not 'I played good, I had a good little run. I gave you three or four good years.' Who votes? Who votes on this stuff?"

This comes as the Hall of Fame Class of 2022 was inducted last weekend. The members of the class of Dick Vermeil Cliff Branch, Bryant Young, Tony Boselli, Art McNally, Richard Seymour, Sam Mills and LeRoy Butler. Members of the Hall of Fame are voted by a 49-person committee mostly made up of media members. The committee votes at least four, but no more than eight members each year. 

Sanders made the Hall of Fame the first year he was eligible as he's one of the best cornerbacks in NFL history. He was selected to the Pro Bowl and the All-Pro Team eight teams, named Defensive Player of the Year, won two Super Bowls and was selected to the 1990s All-Decade Team and the 100th Anniversary All-Time Team. 

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