I am delighted to announce the opening of a very special new club here at Gentlemen’s Quarterly: GQ Sports Style Hall of Fame.
Before I show you around, I want to take you on a trip to Atlanta in 1992.
In October of that year, when Deion Sanders suited up for the Falcons and Braves on the same day, taking two limos, two helicopters and a private jet between Miami and Pittsburgh to make it all happen, I was 11 years old. – an old minor league player who lives in A.
Obviously, Neon Deion was a superhero.
The way he was able to download the game from cornerback the position (with several kickbacks) defied the basic logic and spatial layout of the football game.
Equally inspired was the way he went crazy with his uniform, from the creative innovation of the sweatband placement, to the towel hanging from the front of the belt, to the tissue that would become his signature between the dashes.
Meanwhile on the baseball diamond, he turned his blistering speed into singles into doubles and doubles into triples — his gold chain popping out of his jersey as he turned into a Road Runner-like blob. For me, that act was no less immortal.
And yet, even in its two-sport prime, Prime Time never made it to prime cover real estate GQ.
Maybe Sanders — the guy who hung out on the sidelines with MC Hammer in the Falcons’ “2 Legit 2 Quit” era and famously drew a dollar sign in the batter’s box dirt — was just too far ahead of his time culturally.
All I can say is that the current editorial team was not going to let the lapse slip by. Deion Sanders — one of mankind’s most flamboyant athletes — will be forever overlooked by GQ? No way.
That is why I am thrilled to announce this great new program that allows us to correct the historical problems of the past and restore the cultural planets to their rightful order.
We kick off our new Style Hall with three covers featuring a trio of the greatest athletes of all time: Allen Iverson, Derek Jeter and the man we now know as Coach Prime.
To further mark the moment, we’re also hosting a big event on Saturday, February 11 (yes, that’s the day before the Super Bowl), in Scottsdale, Arizona, where we’ll be interviewing all three cover stars in person on stage—and introducing them to our new Stilska hall of fame. Buy yourself a ticket and you can be there to celebrate with us.
This issue also marks the belated debut of Allen Iverson on the cover GQ. Amazing, given what we now take for granted: that AI has brought culture itself to the head of the NBA league, simply with his style. He went chain after chain with Puff and Biggie. He invented the tunnel junction. He provoked the infamous NBA dress code. And he inspired a generation of youngsters to emulate his every look and move – on and off the pitch.