Sanders named as Grand Marshal for parade

“Prime Time” will be in Canton as the Canton Texas Area Chamber of Commerce has announced that Pro Football Hall of Famer and NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders will serve as the Grand Marshal for this year’s Canton Christmas Parade sponsored by the chamber.

The parade is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13 with the parade lineup to begin at 5:30 p.m. at Canton Junior High School, according to Canton Texas Chamber of Commerce Office Administrator Jayla Bray Melton.

The parade will begin at Canton Junior High School and head down Buffalo Street toward downtown where the parade route will turn left at State Highway 64 before turning left at Billie Rose Floral where the parade route will end at the First Baptist Church parking lot.

Sanders, 51, a resident of Canton, is a current analyst on the NFL Network during the football season. He was drafted fifth overall by the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL in 1989 and also played for the San Francisco 49ers before joining the Cowboys in 1995 where he was a member of their last Super Bowl championship team.

Sanders finished his NFL career as a player with the Washington Redskins and the Baltimore Ravens before retiring in 2005.

He was named as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio in 2011. His college jersey at Florida State University (#2) was retired.

Sanders was an eight-time Pro Bowler in the NFL, an eight-time First Team All-Pro selection, the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1994, a member of the NFL 1990’s All-Decade Team, a member of the Atlanta Falcons Ring of Honor, the winner of the Jim Thorpe Award in 1988 and a two-time unanimous All-American college football player.

During his NFL playing career, he intercepted 53 passes, had 10 defensive touchdowns, nine touchdowns on kickoff and punt returns in addition to catching 60 passes for 784 receiving yards and three receiving TD’s.

Sanders was also named to the Florida High School Association All-Century Football Team which selected the top 33 players in the 100-year history of high school football in the state.

He also had a part-time career in Major League Baseball as an outfielder for nine seasons as he played for the New York Yankees, the Atlanta Braves, the Cincinnati Reds and the San Francisco Giants. Sanders is the only athlete to have ever played in a Super Bowl and in a World Series.

Sanders partnered with Stand Together to launch Prime 5, which is a $21 million fundraising initiative that will support for-purpose organizations that can empower Dallas residents to transform their lives and find a path out of poverty.

“We have asked Deion Sanders to be the Grand Marshal at our Christmas Parade this year because of his involvement in our community and he wants to continue to be involved,” said Melton.

Melton also announced that the “Buzz Brothers” (Mike Malouf, T. A. Hale and Shawn Stewart) from Canton radio station KWJB “The Bee” (95.1 FM) will serve as Masters of Ceremonies for the Dec. 13 parade.

The chamber office administrator also released the names of the sponsors for the parade which include Prosperity Bank, Sarah Clayton State Farm Insurance, Van Zandt Abstract & Title, Higginbotham Brothers Ace Hardware, Triple M Trailers and Atmos Energy.

Melton said that around 15 entries have already committed to being in the parade with more entries to be signing up soon.

“We encourage anyone who is interested in placing an entry in the parade to please call or e-mail our office as soon as possible,” pointed out Melton. “We have parade applications available in our office or we can e-mail that information.” Parade entries will also be accepted at the parade lineup on the day of the parade.

For more information, contact the chamber office at 903-567-2991 or you can e-mail info@cantontexaschamber.com.