Nike doubles down on football nostalgia with Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson

Like the Diamond Turf 3 that would be released seven years later, it is an evolved cross trainer. Jackson and Sanders were both apex athletes who found success in both the NFL and MLB. The support requirements were similar, and thanks to Nike's creation team, who were full of innovation and bold choices.

In both the SC Trainer and the Diamond Turf models, there was attention paid to how these shoes would benefit the athletes they were being made for. Both utilized a wider base for the baseball side, yet added basketball features to improve mobility, lateral movement, and change of direction.

Whereas the Diamond Turf line utilizes a significant forefoot strap that locks the heel and maintains forefoot stability, the SC Trainer incorporated straps of a different kind. These SC Trainer straps are the most recognizable factor that identifies that it as an SC Trainer and not just a cross trainer.

Two ‘straps’ that move from the midsole to corresponding plastic reinforced eyelet cages. The straps have almost a rebar structure. Dense threads within an almost clear plastic seatbelt material. When the laces are pulled, the eyelet cages by way of the rebar strap pulls the foot into a secure position without compromising toe box space. Which is functionally similar to the locking effect from the Diamond Turf forefoot strap.

The original SC Trainer was a revolutionary step in 1990 but was released before some of the advances found in the Diamond Turf. The SC Trainer uses a conventional tongue design while the Diamond Turf uses an inner sock first made popular with the Nike Huarache. The SC Trainer lacks the top end flexibility found in the Diamond Turf line, which could have been intentional if this was primarily a baseball shoe over a football shoe.

A wide, sturdy base is great for a batting stance (as well as weightlifting). The fit of the Diamond Turf is without question superior to the SC Trainer. Heel bubble technology was better in 96 than in 90. The SC Trainer also came before speed lacing. As a performance side by side comparison for two shoes that service GOAT level athletes in football and baseball, the Diamond Turf 1 and 3 are better fitting and supportive shoes. However, it can not be lost that the SC Trainer was the first of the evolved cross trainer.

Before Jackson, the idea of a multi-purpose performance shoe was not a thing. If there was an ‘upper room’ in the Nike Hall of Fame (like Deion has suggested for the Pro Football Hall of Fame), both the SC Trainer and the Diamond Turf would be in said upper room.

Jackson’s SC Trainer began to move Nike toward more bold innovations (outside tennis). Those innovations helped to create Sanders’ Diamond Turf line. Which paved the way for Barry Sanders’ Air Zoom Turf line. Which would all pave the way for other trainers and extend the Air Trainer line. 

As well as introducing new models like the Nike Barrage, Max Speed Turf, Air Veer, Pro Streak Max, eventually up to and including the current Metcon line used in athletic programs and pro franchises all over the nation. After the release of the SC Trainer in 1990, Nike would use this ‘two things in one’ logic to execute the first of many competitor take downs.

 In 1992, Reebok attempted to make a play on an entire subsection of the basketball market. Reebok introduced the Blacktop line. A series of Reebok Pump and other shoes that were made to look like they were designed for and would survive outdoor punishment. Imaged with asphalt black and chain link designs, the idea was to be marketed more towards streetball hoopers than professionals or aspiring professionals.

Nike saw an opportunity and, in 1992, released the Nike Air Raid. Reebok had a great idea, but Nike showed why they were already the 'Basketball King of the Hill' and designed one shoe that was better than Reebok’s entire Blacktop line. Nike would again attempt to do this to Reebok with the Instapump concept found in the Nike Air Pressure and the more famous Air Force 180 Pump. While the instapump concept didn’t take off, it was just enough of a push when paired with a stale Pump market to all but kill Reebok’s Pump era.

The Jackson Nike SC Trainer, as well as the Sanders Diamond Turfs, are without question two of the best examples of Nike changing the game with innovation. A year from now, this could be nothing more than good timing on a Jackson signature release. Or could it be the beginning of something larger and much more important?

Nike has learned the hard way in recent years that yes, you can oversaturate the market, and no, you shouldn’t let the inmates run the asylum. In the last 15+ years, Nike stopped doing what they thought was best for the brand and its consumer base and started manipulating releases to fit what market research was telling them. Transitioning from a varied catalogue of styles, dropped at specific times, in mass quantities to satisfy most if not all of the demand. That was eventually replaced with the same 7-10 shoes, being released far too frequently, in small quantities to ensure immediate liquidation and only to satisfy about 10% of the demand.

Capitalism aside, the biggest loser in all of this was the actual sneakerheads (sneakerheads and hypebeasts are not the same thing). The catalogue is what has suffered. Nike has convinced themselves that they have hundreds if not thousands of incredible models no one is interested in over the last 40 years, yet they only seem to focus on what they deem to be the top 2-5% of that catalogue. Suggesting for quite a while, Jordan⁰s, Pennys, Barkleys, Griffeys, and lifestyle classics are the only things sneakerheads are interested in. 

The Diamond Turf resurgence is great, but on its own could just be a ‘Deion Sanders moves the needle’ kind of thing. Hopefully, the timing of the Auburn SC Trainer signals a new shift. A shift back to Nike’s bread and butter of a vast catalogue that celebrates decades of sneaker dominance.

If the success of Deion’s Diamond Turf line and there is enough demand for an Auburn Jackson SC Trainer, perhaps Nike will see the benefit of expanding their current view to include the hundreds or thousands of great designs they have cast aside.