Deion V. Rod

[Fox1994]

Well, Emmitt V. Barry is in full swing. So how about a battle of the defensive backfield?

Deion Sanders versus Rod Woodson.

"Neon" Deion "Primetime" Sanders played cornerback for the Falcons from 1989 to 1993, the 49ers in 1994, the Cowboys from 1995 to 1999, the Redskins in 2000, retired, and returned to play for the Ravens in 2004 and 2005.

He also returned punts for the majority of his career, running back six for touchdowns. He has three career punt return touchdowns. He played receiver for a little while, with his most catches and yards (36 and 475) coming in 1996 with Dallas. He retired with 53 career interceptions (tied for 22nd) for 9 touchdowns. He will be eligible for the Hall of Fame next year.

He made 492 career tackles, eight Pro Bowls, and was six times an All-Pro in 13 years. He won Super Bowls with the 49ers in 1994 and the Cowboys in 1995. He is also the only athlete to have played in a Superbowl and a World Series. He was the 1988 Thorpe Award winner and 1994 NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

Rod Woodson played cornerback for the Steelers from 1987 to 1996, the 49ers in 1997, and the Ravens in 1998. He played safety for the Ravens from 1999 to 2001 and the Raiders in 2002 and 2003.

He returned a few punts and kicks in his career, with two touchdowns either way. He retired with 71 interceptions (third all time), and twelve touchdowns, the league record, which is set to be surpassed by Darren Sharper this year. He got into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year.

In 17 years, he made 1050 tackles, 11 Pro Bowls, and 6 All-Pro Teams. He won a Super Bowl with the Ravens in 2000. He was also the 1993 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and the 1993 UPI AFL-AFC Player of the Year. Besides his interceptions for touchdowns record, he also holds the record for interception return yardage with 1483. He was inducted into the Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SandDe00.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deion_Sanders

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WoodRo01.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Woodson

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So, what do you think? Who's the better defensive back?

[BigBucs]

Both great but Deion >

[Esjay]

Deion is the best CB I ever saw play. I didn't see much of his prime but I remember some of his 49ers/Cowboys games.

If I remember right though Rod Woodson was a total beast for me on Tecmo Super Bowl .. I think he was with Pittsburgh then. I've liked him since.. lol.

[Tengo Juego]

I favor Rod because he's not the loud "cocky" player. But I was too young when he played. I was even a little too young for Deion.

 

Charles Woodson>>>

[Esjay]

My favorite part about Deion was his cockiness and showmanship. It's a game, have some fun.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Deion was a great returnman and he literally cut a field in half...nobody could do it like Primetime. However, he was a comical tackler.

Rod was the consummate pro and a great all around defensive back.

However, at the end of the day, Deion was a head and pair of shoulders above anyone else in his era or any after as a corner. You just didn't throw on him unless you were the 49ers or Cowboys and even then, it was hit or miss.

[Realist]

Deion. I'm bias cause he's my alltime favorite player, I don't see anyone ever being as great as he was at CB

[Woy]

[bucky]

It's hard to argue against Deon, but I pick Rod.

Rod did everything very well as a DB. Deon was a great cover corner, but he played tag football, not tackle. He was kind of a pussy. But a great cover corner and return man.

Rod was tough as hell. Great run support. Heavy hitter. And a great cover guy. He was the kind of corner that could bring out the toughness of a team. The kind that could really inspire a team to play harder and tougher.

So for those reasons, I personally would pick Rod. But I won't argue against anyone that chooses Deon.

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

Deion was the best pure cover corner we've ever seen. By far the best man to man coverage guy since Jimmy Johnson. For a guy who was head and shoulders talent wise and could have gotten away on pure athleticism he was amazingly well prepared. ((Weird comparison)) But like Anderson Silva in MMA he would often get bored and complacent and play many downs and many games with sloppy technique and still dominate. Yet outside of Darrel Green noone knew the position like he did. Green , Woodson , Aenas , Allen , and others all had guys or "types" who could get the better of them. There wasnt anyone that could get the best of Deion for any period of time.

In the book "dark side of the game" Tim Green tells a story about Deion and Jerry Rice. In a nutshell Rice welcomed Deion but QUICKLY built a huge amount of animosity because of the attention he was drawing. The practices very early on reached a boiling point when Deion, sensing Rice giving him the cold shoulder, began toying with Jerry Rice in practice. Baiting Young over and over into thinking Jerry was open then picking off or batting down the ball on a routine basis.
Rice felt that Deion was trying to show him up. He was right.
Evidently this won over alot of guys in the locker room and led to Watters/Floyd/Deion being a hell of alot more vocal and animated because of it.

Is it entirely true ? I dont know. Noone disputed the story. But routinely embarrasing the GOAT is pretty damn impressive.


As for Woodson.
He plays second fiddle to noone. He was a better DB than CB. What I mean by that is even though he was all world at CB after his injury he slipped significantly. Moving to safety he rejuvenated his career and was consistently one of the best if not the best safety in the league for years. He takes a backseat to noone. I think people forget just how damn good he was at CB. BUT he is sitting in the passenger side for this one.

I too would have ZERO qualms with those that pick Woodson. The margin here is very very small.
It could easily be said that Woodsons prime years were better because he never crippled his team by missing weeks and months of the season. If you cant rely on a guy being there Sept-Oct your putting the coaching staff in a tough spot.

I think 94-96 is what gives Deion the edge. Prior to that I would have given it the Nod to Rod.
DPOTY in 94 , being THE single biggest reason the 49ers finally get past the Cowboys. Then switching sides and having the Boys win the SB is a massive gold star on your resume. He showed what he can do playing full time and how utterly dominant he really was. For those questioning his toughness. Listen ,noone will ever argue he was a tackler. He was god awful and avoided it like the plague. But playing WR/CB Full time in 96 was remarkable. There was one game in particular where Deion couldnt stand up straight because of backpain. He looked like he was taking a shit everywhere he walked. He still managed to play the entire game at CB.
After that season I never questioned his toughness again.

Both were spectacular return men. Both could score at any given moment. But Deion was one of the top 3-5 return men of all time.

Id love to hear from Darrel Green backers. Nothing but respect for the guy. Just as good a man to man guy as the others at his best. I may have some bias since Irvin basically made Darrel Green his bitch during the 90s. Green did have some stellar days against Rice/Taylor in the 80s which goes a long way.

[bucky]

Id love to hear from Darrel Green backers. Nothing but respect for the guy. Just as good a man to man guy as the others at his best. I may have some bias since Irvin basically made Darrel Green his bitch during the 90s. Green did have some stellar days against Rice/Taylor in the 80s which goes a long way.

Green was another guy I really liked. Evan as an OLD man he still played CB fairly well.

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

Green was another guy I really liked. Evan as an OLD man he still played CB fairly well.

Didnt he run a 4.3 at 40 yrs old ?

I hope his legacy doesnt get forgotten. He was a dominant CB before the 6ft3 high jumpers of the 90s started flourishing. Even then he was an elite CB.

Did you ever watch Jimmy Johnson play ? IMO hes has to be the best defensive player noones ever heard of and the best cover guy with no NFL films footage. If it wasnt for his reputation with the old guard he'd be completely overlooked.

[Macken]

There are valid arguments on both sides here.. i saw both play in their primes and i think Deion was a better overall Corner but Rod was more of an impact overall on the defensive side of the ball in my opinion..

[bucky]

Didnt he run a 4.3 at 40 yrs old ?

I hope his legacy doesnt get forgotten. He was a dominant CB before the 6ft3 high jumpers of the 90s started flourishing. Even then he was an elite CB.

Did you ever watch Jimmy Johnson play ? IMO hes has to be the best defensive player noones ever heard of and the best cover guy with no NFL films footage. If it wasnt for his reputation with the old guard he'd be completely overlooked.

About Jimmy Johnson, I didn't follow the niners back then, except when GB played them. I heard the name, know he is HOF. I think he had 40ish ints or so. But I didn't really watch him, or the niners. Looking back, wish I would have paid more attention.

[Aso]

Ronnie Lott is the greatest defensive player ever

/thread