Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders acts like a man with nothing to lose. While the NFL Hall of Famer and ballyhooed coach has become the star of college football, his inability to handle criticism will become a boiling point if the 2024 season is as rocky as the second half of last year.
Sanders' behavior during a Friday press conference only further enhances the concern about how he could respond to more widespread calls for how he's built the Buffaloes program. His latest petty grudge with CBS Sports was a sign of things to come.
When a journalist introduced himself and mentioned his connection to CBS Sports, Sanders immediately prevented him from asking questions. Sanders attributed his reluctance to engage to an unspecified past incident involving the media company.
"CBS, I’m not doing nothing with CBS," Sanders said. "Next question. Ain’t got nothing to do with you. It's above that. Ain’t got nothing to do with you. I’ve got love for you. I appreciate and respect you. Ain’t got nothing to do with you. They know what they did."
The journalist pointed out that his work was with the Denver local affiliate, and he wasn’t involved in any national-level work for CBS. However, this clarification didn't appear to sway Sanders’ stance.
"You are who you are. CBS is CBS," Sanders said. "Ain’t got nothing to do with you. I respect you. That’s why I told you that. I’m looking you in the eye as a man. I respect you. I got love for you. But what they did was foul."
What exactly Sanders was alluding to in their conversation remains ambiguous. However, it followed a recent instance where CBS Sports placed him in a potentially negative light in a ranking of Big 12 Conference coaches, listing him as the second-to-last coach going into the 2024 season.
Sanders might have also been referring to a meme mocking a video released by the Colorado football team. The original video, which showcased Colorado’s quarterback Shedeur Sanders throwing a pass that was then caught for a touchdown from a different angle, garnered over 14 million views by Friday. The video's editing raised doubts about its genuineness, prompting several altered versions to circulate online, some of which ridiculed the "Darts Only" tagline.
CBS Sports compiled some of these humorous takes on Colorado’s original footage.
Additionally, Sanders expressed displeasure with The Denver Post at the same press conference. After a columnist from the publication expressed a desire to ask a football-related question, Sanders hinted at his discontent with a previous article. He proposed having a private conversation with the columnist about it later.
While Sanders is right to be concerned with how some of the media has consistently been antagonizing and negative about his different approach to the game, he's also made missteps that would never be welcomed in a traditional landscape that doesn't always love big personalities.
That's not to say he needs to bend the knee to fit in. But he does need to understand he'll draw strong reactions because he's a strong figurehead looking to do things his way.
I'm rooting for Sanders and the Buffaloes to avoid disaster this fall. They're fun and generally a breath of fresh air across a stale world of boring, stiff coaches who are self-righteous more often than not. But Sanders has to be Teflon against obviously clickbaity statements that are meant more for consumers than anything of substance.
Local Denver, CO
Most Popular
Comments / 0