He was selected by the New York Jets in the eleventh round of the 1979 NFL draft after playing college football at Carson–Newman University.
[1] He was a two-time All-South Atlantic Conference selection and set a school record with 5,360 career passing yards.
[4] On August 29, 1979, Sanders started a five-day trial with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL).
[1] On September 12, 1979, the Saskatchewan Roughriders gave Sanders a five-day trial after claiming him off waivers from Hamilton.
[7] Sanders totaled 21 completions on 57 passing attempts (36.8%) for 290 yards, two touchdowns, and seven interceptions that year before being benched for Tom Rozantz and then released by the Roughriders.