Deion Sanders used the name of famous entertainer at hotels during Hall of Fame career

Coach Prime tried to avoid the attention for a certain reason

Matt Nager/CU Buffs

Deion Sanders had an alter ego we didn't know about until now. The Hall-of-Famer spent his playing career using a fake name while checking into hotels. It comes with the territory of being a highly sought-after celebrity and is a tactic used more often than we know about. 

At the very least, "certain things should be yours to have when you work your way to the top." The words of legendary entertainer Redd Foxx whose name Sanders used as a pseudonym on road trips. 

According to Peter King of Pro Football Talk, Prime needed a level of protection from a few in the media seeking an interview. He wasn't a "big dummy" when it came to avoiding folks he didn't want to share details with. It just so happens that Foxx was one of Sanders' favorites, and it stuck.

"I remember going to a lobby phone in the downtown Pittsburgh Hilton late on a Sunday afternoon in August 1992. 'Could you ring the room of Redd Foxx please,' I said. Deion Sanders' pseudonym in road hotels. He'd given it to me because he knew in the media world there was SI, and everyone else was angling for second place, and he wanted a pipeline to the magazine."

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What a different time for Sanders, who's now one of the most recognizable figures in the world of sports. In his own words, the Colorado Buffaloes coach and Sportsperson of the Year "Ain't hard to find" these days.