12 Most Memorable Moments from the NFL Combine
By Zach Bigalke
Deion Sanders dominates 40 and leaves in style (1989)
In 1989, Deion Sanders had zero intention of running the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. Gil Brandt, writing about the event 22 years later for NFL.com, said that Sanders
"told people at the combine that he would not run the 40-yard dash while he was there. I had enjoyed a good relationship with Sanders dating back to time I spent visiting him at Florida State, so I was asked to speak to him about running. Eventually, he obliged my request to run. And run he did — Sanders ran just once, blowing away the on-lookers with a 4.27 40 and then continuing right on into the locker room."
Brandt would list Sanders’ 40 time as 4.27, and says that Sanders then ran straight to the locker room. Other apocryphal reports stated that Sanders headed straight through the tunnel to a waiting limousine that took him to the airport. Either way, the Seminole speedster opened eyes in 1989 much like Bo Jackson had at the NFL Combine three years earlier.