Before Deion Sanders became Coach Prime and made Boulder, Colorado, the improbable center of the sports world, he was Prime Time and Neon in Atlanta.

Driving the news: Sanders' remarkable start as the Colorado Buffaloes' head coach — they are 3-0 after going just 1-11 under previous leadership last year — has captivated the sports and entertainment industries.

• The company that makes the sunglasses he wears, Blenders Eyewear, reportedly made $1.2 million in sales in one day.
• Snoop Dogg, Dwayne Johnson and LeBron James are hyping the once-hapless team.

And the Prime excitement is particularly strong in Black households. Black teachers, with no previous connections to Colorado, on social media call Sanders an inspiration, Axios Russ' Contreras reports.

Why it matters: Here in Atlanta, it's all very familiar. Three decades ago, Sanders created a similar fever when he was a two-sport star for the Falcons and Braves.

Zoom in: "In this 'new age' of college football, he seems to be a one-of-a-kind draw — and hire — that may have more staying power than college football folks may have initially expected," Carl Suddler, an associate professor of history at Emory University, told Axios.

Flashback: From 1989 to the mid-90s, Sanders — a No. 5 NFL draft pick who was hard to miss stepping out of helicopters in trademark Emmanuelle Khanh shades and a Sergio Tacchini tracksuit, Louis Vuitton bag in hand — was the high-profile, trash-talking pro athlete that every city needs.

• He joined the Braves in 1991, splitting his time between football and baseball, developing a reputation (unfairly, former teammates told The Athletic) as a cocky firebrand.
• Off the field, he spent time with his family in their Alpharetta home with a football-shaped swimming pool, owned a hair salon, dined at Buckhead's posh Pano's and Paul's, and raked in endorsement deals.

In the process, he helped turn Atlanta's sports teams into winners. The Braves won the division three straight years from 1991 to 1994.

• And the 1991 Falcons famously became the "2 Legit 2 Quit" team, advancing to the NFL playoffs with superstar rapper MC Hammer, a fixture on the sidelines and in the locker room.

Zoom out: Sanders' trademark swag and boasting has drawn criticism from other college coaches. Yet that swag once displayed by Muhammad Ali, Jack Johnson and scores of Negro League baseball players is attractive to many Black Americans in the face of discrimination.

What they're saying: "I loved Atlanta. Atlanta was a chocolate city; they were an understanding city," Sanders told GQ in January about the day the Falcons picked him in the draft. "They were a city on the rise."

• "They were a city I could ride with, and I knew they was gonna ride with me. I chose them, and they chose me, and it was one of the greatest days of my life."

What's next: No. 19 Colorado Buffaloes take on No. 10 Oregon on Saturday in what will likely be the weekend's most-watched college football matchup.

Share this story

Twenty-one percent of Atlanta metro area workers were working from home as of 2022, compared to 24% in 2021, according to new Census figures released last week.

The big picture: Workers in America's biggest, most competitive cities aren't giving up the flexibility and savings — in both time and gas money — of working from home, Axios' Sam Baker and Simran Parwani report.

Zoom out: Overall, 15% of the U.S. worked from home last year, but the numbers are much higher on both the East and West coasts and in other large metro areas.

• Boulder, Colorado, had the highest share of remote workers of any metro area last year, at 32%.
• Mississippi has the lowest share of remote workers in the U.S., at just 5.5%, and most of the Southeast generally is well below the national average.

The intrigue: Every state has more remote workers now than it did in 2019 — before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

• And even after two years, the trend line is barely moving. Nationwide, the share of people working from home declined by less than 3 percentage points between 2021 and 2022, according to the Census figures.

Food. Wine. Good vibes. What more can one ask for?

All of these together, of course, and that's exactly what the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival will have on tap this week.

Driving the news: The annual festival starts today and runs through Sunday, with its flagship tasting tents taking place this weekend at Historic Fourth Ward Park.

• Tickets are sold out for Saturday's testing tents, but some are still available for Friday and Sunday.

Of note: Other festival-related events will be held at restaurants around the city.

Be smart: The Atlanta Food & Wine Festival is a 21-or-older event. Also, attendees will not be allowed to bring their pets. Service animals, however, will be permitted.

💭 Kristal's thought bubble: I'll be there Saturday, so say hi if you see me!

Editor's note: Axios is a sponsor of this event, but that's not why we're covering it here. We're covering it here because No. 1: food and No. 2: wine.

⚖️ Three Slutty Vegan employees in Brooklyn have reached a $10,000 settlement over unpaid wages and bonuses. (11 Alive)

🥊 Georgia Democrats are preparing for the uphill battle to repeal the state's ban on rent control when the legislative session resumes in January. (Atlanta Civic Circle)

The parents of Kendrick Johnson, the teen whose body was found rolled up in a gym mat 10 years ago at a Valdosta high school, have filed a lawsuit against the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office and the GBI. (Fox 5 Atlanta)

😥 The Rusty Nail on Buford Highway will close its doors this weekend after nearly 50 years of serving customers. (AJC)