The Gems of Junk Wax, Pt. 44: 1992 Classic #T80 "Deion Drops In"

Let me start this post by stating the obvious.

Baseball has been, is, and always will be my favorite sport. Period. Nothing else is even in the same universe as my love for baseball.

However, I'm sure there's some fans out there who can't recognize the beauty of any sports besides "their own".

Not me.

I'm excited to watch the opening of the 2012 NFL season tonight, and I still love sitting on the couch and taking in a good ol' football game on lazy Sunday afternoons.

During my early collecting years, I had cards of pretty much all of the major U.S. sports. Baseball was the front-runner, obviously.

But football was actually a pretty close second.

I still have mounds of football cards lying around my room from those early days. Even though I haven't collected anything football-related in about a decade, I still remember this card like it was yesterday. (I'd love to see something like that on a baseball card one of these days.)

Still, the game of football does have its cameos amongst my baseball card-filled binders.

Some of you might remember the awesome Brian Jordan baseball/football card I nabbed from a 15/$1 box at the flea market a few weeks ago. Although I haven't yet found it, I'm in active pursuit of Score's famous Bo Jackson "combo" card. (I bet it'll turn up one of these days.)

However, I still think this "Neon Deion" issue is the best in the field of two-sport athletes.

Interestingly enough, I'd never even heard about it until it turned up inside the self-proclaimed "best dime box ever".

For one thing, how often do you see a shot of a guy in a helicopter featured on a sports card?

Sanders regularly flew from Falcons practice to Braves games in 1991, eventually playing a role in helping the Braves capture the first of many NL pennants during the '90s.

This card brings up another good point as well.

Will we ever see another two-sport star like Sanders or Bo Jackson?

Although I wouldn't completely rule it out, the chances of another Sanders-like scenario seems unlikely. It seems as though both baseball and football have gotten much more strenuous in the last decade or two. I'm not sure that even the most well-conditioned athlete could handle it.

But, like I said, I wouldn't go so far as to say that it will never, ever happen again.

As a sports fan and a collector, I'd love to see it.