“Deion Sanders had full support of us” - Ex-MLBer David Justice sets record straight on 1992 incident after Tim McCarver's “selfish” claim

Two-sport athlete Deion Sanders aimed to make history in 1992 by playing in both the NFL and MLB on the same day. While Sanders' commitment to both sports led to many lauding him, popular broadcaster Tim McCarver called him "selfish" for not devoting his time to help his team win a pennant.

While nearly 23 years have passed since McCarver made this comment, Sanders' ex-teammate David Justice set the record straight on this incident. On Saturday, Justice, on the ALL THE SMOKE YouTube channel, spoke highly about Sanders:

"So, you remember that whole Tim McCarver situation. You see where, you know, he was accusing Deion (Sanders) of being selfish, and all this kind of stuff. Not one of us, not one player, not one coach ever thought that what Deion was doing was selfish.

"None of us. He had full support of us. So, when it came time for Deion to, you know, give my man a celebratory bath. ... he was just trying to give him a bath. I mean, he wanted him to be part of the celebration. You know what I mean?" (06:08 onwards)

You can check what David Justice said in the video below:

For those unaware, when David Justice said celebratory bath, he referred to the incident in 1992 where Deion Sanders dumped four buckets of water on Tim McCarver after the Atlanta Braves won the NLCS in seven games. The late McCarver was left enraged by Sanders' act.

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Tim McCarver called Deion Sanders' water-dumping incident a cowardly act

The aftermath of Deion Sanders throwing four buckets of water on Tim McCarver turned ugly. As per a Los Angeles Times report from 1962, McCarver pulled a muscle in the right side of his back due to the shock that came when Sanders dumped water on him for the first time.

The same report from the Los Angeles Times also contained quotes from McCarver, who described the incident in detail. It must also be noted that the broadcaster called Sanders' water-dumping incident a cowardly act. At the time, McCarver said:

"I didn't know what I would do or say, but as I was going toward the middle of the clubhouse, Sanders was creeping up with another tub of water....

"He said, 'Where's McCarver?,' and I said, 'I'm right here.' "He tried to hit me with another tub that missed me, and I said, 'You know, Deion, you're a real man, you are a real man.' I thought it was a deliberate, cowardly act."

While Tim McCarver labeled it a cowardly act, Deion Sanders hit back at the broadcaster's claim. In an interview with Ernie Johnson from TNT, Sanders questioned how one can be called a coward for throwing water. He also went on to say that McCarver was more of a "coward" and said he was "flat-out ignorant."