Op Ed: The Deion distractions are masking what's really happening in Boulder

Something strange is going on in Boulder. Well, maybe I’m the only one who can see clearly what Deion Sanders is up to. Everyone is going to say that this is a slam piece, but make your own judgements. I don't have any agenda to be against Coach Prime and the Buffs. Not in the slightest. Also, I am not racist or all of the other hateful and horrible things that people have hurled at me recently. It is not about any of those things, and definitely isn’t about me, it never has been. This is about the truth, and nothing but the truth. It's time for Prime to start living by his own code.

It is unacceptable the culture that has been instituted by someone who claims to have such outstanding values. Which is why instead of answering for the truths that have been laid out, Sanders and those at Colorado have been playing Harry Houdini and his assistants on everyone.

What does it mean to distract? To prevent (someone) from giving full attention to something. To draw or direct (something, such as someone's attention) to a different object or in different directions at the same time. To divert one's attention from something worrying or unpleasant by doing something different or more pleasurable. That has been the game plan of late. There has been no comment from CU athletic director Rick George, Sanders himself, or any one on staff to address the report. Instead, you send out Warren Sapp to utter a tone deaf comment on how players are bullets. "You get shot with a .38 or 9mm, you pick it," Sapp told reporters. Well, minus Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler, who was shut down while trying to ask him a question.

On a base level, why is any of this acceptable? You have Sanders' six-figure earning graduate assistant stoking the flames with the Prime mob ready to pounce. But has anyone taken into considering the history in Boulder? You know, a mass shooting rocked the community at the foot of the Flatirons two years before Sanders walked onto the scene. In fact, just yesterday, Boulder law enforcement put out a report saying the King Soopers shooter appeared ‘eerily’ calm moments after shooting. But let's not talk about the gun culture Sanders and his staff is fostering.

Then we have the weird press conference, where no one asked a real question, and even softball questions were met with hostility. As for the whole CBS issue, I don’t believe any of it. It wasn’t about a ranking, or a story about Shilo's bankruptcy , or some proposed deal that didn’t materialize. This is all smokescreen, plain and simple. For someone who is supposed to be a "life coach", how can you not handle a question from a reporter? Not a good look. You tell the masses in your latest book how you exude confidence and carry yourself in a professional manner at all times. Why not come out and do the same with the media? We don't need your smoke and mirrors, we need you to be honest and coach football. Can you do either of those things?

A majority of Coloradans don't care about your sponsorship deals. Nobody is running out to Boost Mobile to buy your flip phone because you put it on display at a press conference. That's part of the fallout from the event and the debacle that it was. Do you see where this is going? A new deal was announced with Amazon Video for another season of Coach Prime, which Colorado is being pimped out for the "exposure" value. On the same day, new spots come out from DirecTV with you depicted as a pigeon, as well as KFC commercials with you decked out in red looking like a Nebraska mascot. Not to mention, the California Almonds media tour. Throw into the mix a Skype from Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Ray Lewis and a visit from rapper and entrepreneur Bun B. You want this to be buried with anything that comes to mind. I hope everyone enjoyed the Trill Burger. Honestly though, where’s the beef? While everyone eats this up, it’s all sizzle, no substance. Your media team and group of "influencers" are working feverishly to make this go away, but we already have receipts.

A previously unannounced Denver trip to showcase the team and a new defensive coaching hire, weeks before the season only add to the spin cycle that Coach Prime is trying to put everyone in. The “Prime Effect” is in full force, because that’s the important thing to remember here. It is not about these kids, it is about Deion Sanders. This is not how you develop men. "Everything is a facade. Coach Prime is a fugazi." Those are the words from a source and not from me.

The truth is the truth. Just like "The standard is the standard." They say that it hurts, and so I understand that the easiest path has been through diversion. They say that it shall set you free, and I pray that it does. If you don't want to hear my words, look in the mirror and repeat your own words from this morning : "In a world so full of HATE & broken people can u do your part to make it better!"