Sanders is the oldest child of Deion Sanders and Pilar Sanders. His parents are divorced. He has two older half-siblings: Deiondra and Deion and two younger siblings, Shedeur and Shelomi.[3] Sanders attended Trinity Christian High School in Cedar Hill, Texas, where he played safety, wide receiver and return specialist. His father was the offensive coordinator at Trinity Christian High School throughout his son's high school career.
In his high school career, he recorded 24 tackles, one pass deflection, five interceptions, and a fumble recovery, rushed for 45 yards and a touchdown, and hauled in 13 receptions for 199 yards and three touchdowns.[4] Sanders committed to play college football at the University of South Carolina over offers from 14 other schools.[5]
College career
South Carolina
As a freshman at South Carolina in 2019, Sanders two tackles and a fumble recovery.[6] In week four of the 2020 season, he made ten tackles in a win over Auburn.[7] Sanders finished the shortened 2020 season with 32 tackles with one going for a loss, and a pass deflection.[8] After the season, he entered the NCAA transfer portal.[9]
Jackson State
Sanders transferred to Jackson State to continue his collegiate career.[10] In his first season with the Tigers in 2021 he notched 39 tackles, seven pass deflections, two forced fumble, and four interceptions which was tied for second in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).[11] For his performance on the season, Sanders was named second-team all-SWAC.[12] In 2022, he suffered an ACL injury[citation needed] which caused him to only play in seven games, where he recorded 20 tackles and an interception.[13] After the season, Sanders entered the NCAA transfer portal for the second time in his career.[14]
Colorado
Sanders transferred to Colorado to join his father.[15] In his team debut, he tallied ten tackles and helped the Buffaloes upset #17 TCU.[16] In week three, Sanders had an 80-yard pick-six for Colorado's first score of the game and forced a fumble, helping Colorado beat their rival Colorado State.[17][18]
Sanders' younger brother, Shedeur, is the starting quarterback for Colorado Buffaloes.[22][23]
An October 2016 lawsuit filed in Dallas District Court alleged Sanders attacked a security officer named John Darjean. Following a dispute about Sanders disrupting a high school class, Darjean claimed Sanders slammed his elbow into Darjean's chest and continued to hit Darjean after he fell. The case went to trial in 2022, but Sanders did not appear for the trial.[24] Therefore, a default judgment was entered against Sanders.[25] The court ordered Sanders to pay Darjean $11.89 million.[24]
In October 2023, Sanders filed for bankruptcy, declaring he had $11.3 million in liabilities, including the court judgment against him.[25] The bankruptcy petition stated Sanders had $478,000 in assets, including a 2023 Mercedes valued at $75,900 and necklaces valued at $75,000.[25] Sanders’ attorney amended the petition in December 2023 to reduce the value of his assets to $320,000. This reduction included the removal of the high-value necklaces from the list of assets as they were alleged to have been on loan pursuant to an NIL deal with Saki Diamonds.[25] Darjean is currently contesting the bankruptcy filing, alleging Sanders transferred funds received from NIL deals to his company, Big 21, LLC, as a way to improperly shield his assets from the judgment he obtained against Sanders personally.[25] Sanders has admitted he did not disclose several social media NIL deals and that he is the sole owner of Big 21 LLC and SS21 LLC, but denied improperly failing to disclose contracts with those companies related to his NIL deals.[24]
There were at least five investigations into the Sanders-Darjean incident. A 2024 examination by USA Today of those investigations reported that four of them "favored John Darjean". The fifth "initially sided" with Sanders, but after additional information surfaced, the investigators changed their position and decided that fault for the incident simply was "unable to be determined".[25]