Question: John Deac Sanders (born January 11 1950 in Chicago Illinois) is a former American football defensive back in the National Football League. Sanders played college football at South Dakota. He was signed by the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 1974 and played with them for 3 years first as a cornerback and then as a free safety. Given a list of categories: company, educational institution, artist, athlete, office holder, mean of transportation, building, natural place, village, animal, plant, album, film or written work, what category does the paragraph belong to?
Answer:
Athlete