Colorado football head coach and former NFL/MLB star Deion Sanders provided great praise for Cincinnati Reds outfielder Elly De La Cruz, calling him "phenomenal" and a "complete player" among other compliments.

Sanders made his remarks at the Celebrity Softball game during All-Star Weekend in Arlington, Texas. The 22-year-old De La Cruz was also in town making his first All-Star appearance.

Thus far, his 46 stolen bases lead the league, and his six triples pace the National League. De La Cruz has also added 17 home runs and 43 RBI while scoring 64 runs and posting an .830 OPS.

De La Cruz and Sanders have some things in common as ballplayers. Sanders notably suited up for the Reds in 1994, 1995, 1997 and 2001. He also was lightning quick on the basepaths, posting a career 162-game average of 42 stolen bases, per Baseball-Reference.

Sanders was also one of sports' most electric and entertaining athletes in his prime. The same goes for De La Cruz, who wows people with his power, speed and rocket arm from shortstop.

Sanders and De La Cruz also made huge impacts early on in their professional careers.

Although Sanders was a full-time football player who focused part-time on baseball, he managed to lead the National League in triples (14) at just 24 years old in 1992 despite playing just 97 games. Sanders also earned NFL First Team All-Pro honors last year.

De La Cruz isn't even 194 games into his MLB career but has 81 stolen bases already. His All-Star appearance should be the first of many more as he continues his ascent in the bigs.

So Sanders gave De La Cruz some well-deserved praise, and it's obviously coming from a noteworthy source given Prime Time's many athletic accolades.