Years after a split between Nike and Deion Sanders, Nike confirmed a renewed partnership with the first-year Colorado football coach in an email to USA Today Sports.
“We welcome Deion Sanders back to the Nike family,” the company said in a statement sent to the publication.
Sanders hinted at the reunion in a Friday post on Instagram, in which he posed for photos with one of his iconic shoes, the Nike Air Diamond Turf, while wearing a black Nike shirt adorned with his “Coach Prime” logo.
“We coming,” Sanders wrote in the Instagram post.
Sanders has enjoyed a longstanding recent relationship with Under Armour, but it appears that agreement has come to an end. A statement from Under Armour referred to the partnership with Sanders in the past tense.
“Under Armour had a longstanding partnership with Deion Sanders for more than a decade and we are proud of what we accomplished together,” the statement sent to USA Today Sports said. “Now that he has gone on to Colorado, we can’t wait to see him continue to positively impact the game and look forward to watching him find continued success with his new partners, athletes, and expanded communities.”
Sanders signed with Nike in 1992 but the relationship turned sour at one point, and the longtime NFL star went on to publicly bash the sneaker giant through the years. In a 2017 interview with Complex, Sanders said he didn’t feel properly compensated for his role in creating the original Diamond Turf shoe.
“That’s why I’m upset with them [Nike] right now,” Sanders said in 2017. “We created these together, but they don’t want to seed me, they don’t want to direct deposit.”
Sanders added that he’d “never” work with the brand again and considered himself an Under Armour guy at the time. But now, six years later, the Pro Football Hall of Famer has reconsidered and renewed ties with Nike.
