It was meant to be a compliment with a little back-handed Neon Deion flavor to it and meant nothing more than Samuel doesn't play bump-and-run the way guys like Nnamdi Asomugha and Darrelle Revis do.
Regardless of the truth behind what Deion was saying, Samuel took exception, telling the Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer that Deion is a "hater."
Samuel later tweeted that "Deion Sanders is the biggest hater in the world. He ain't no real FL boy he is a fake. FL boys keep it real. Men lie women lie numbers don't."
Deion stuck by his comments, everyone talked about it for a couple days, and it died. That was the end of that little back-and-forth.
Until now.
When Sanders was asked to name his top five corners in the league, he left Samuel off the list. Instead, he listed Charles Woodson and Tramon Williams, Revis, Nnamdi Asomugha, and Brandon Flowers.
When asked why, Sanders said:
"I like the kid. I think he's a tremendous athlete, I really do. I know he got upset with me because I gave him a compliment he didn't like. I don't understand that to this day.
You tell Tramon (Williams) to cover the other team's best player and he'll say, 'I got him.' Left side, right side, doesn't matter. Woodson, Williams, Revis, they're corners, man. You tell 'em to take this guy and they'll say, 'I got him.' Take that guy. 'I got him.'
That's how it is. It's like the difference between a first and second-down back and an every-down back. Same thing with a corner. You got a (good) corner, he's got to go to this side or that side, no problem. He can do it all. That's the kind of corner that I love."
To which Samuel responded via Twitter: "As you can see Deion has no credibility. He don't have a clue!"
While I think including Williams instead of Samuel is ridiculous and perhaps does show a little bit of animosity toward Samuel on Sanders' part, he brings up an interesting point -- and shows that he does, in fact, "have a clue."
Samuel plays one side. He doesn't follow around the opposing team's best corner. He stays on the left side and that's that. Of course, that's also not necessarily Samuel's fault. That's the way the defense has always been run in Philadelphia.
Could Samuel lock down on the opposing team's best receiver and shut him down one-on-one? Perhaps, but we'll never know so it's not really a point worth arguing.
What we do know is that Samuel was one of the best corners in the league this year and in years past. Teams were reluctant to throw at him this season and when they did it usually ended in a tipped ball or interception, so not to include him in the top five is just short of crazy.
But if Samuel wants to be included in the conversation with guys like Revis and Asomugha, he needs to worry a little less about what Deion is saying and a focus more on finally learning how to tackle and becoming a complete player.
