Deion Sanders goes viral for combative exchange with reporters

Apr 22, 2023; Boulder, CO, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders during the first half of the spring game at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Deion Sanders’ doubters are back, and the Colorado coach is not shying away from taking a combative approach with them during his press conferences.

Sanders garnered plenty of attention Friday for a testy press conference in which he refused to take questions from one journalist and took on another over perceived bias.

The most notable exchange came with Sean Keeler of the Denver Post, who has frequently taken a critical line against Sanders and his approach at Colorado. For instance, in April, Keeler wrote a column criticizing Sanders for a mass exodus of players into the transfer portal and suggesting that Sanders was the issue, not the players.

Coach Prime clearly remembered that, and would not even let Keeler ask his question, instead demanding to know why Keeler showed up to cover the team despite his perceived dislike of Sanders.

“You don’t like us, man. Why do you do this to yourself?” Sanders asked Keeler. “No, I’m serious. Why do you do this? It would be hard for me to really engage in someone I don’t like or something I don’t like. I’m just asking why? What did I do? … You’re always on the attack. What did we do?”

Keeler attempted to respond by saying he had no personal issues with Sanders and wasn’t on the attack. The coach responded by saying he “wanted to help” and that the attacks are “not normal,” and despite Keeler’s insistence that he had a football question, Sanders refused to take the question.

That is more rope than local CBS reporter Eric Christensen. Sanders immediately brushed him off and said he would not take any questions from CBS.

“Ain’t got nothing to do with you,” Sanders said. “I got love for you. I appreciate you, I respect you, ain’t got nothing to do with you. They know what they did.”

Christensen pointed out that he was a local reporter in Denver and was not affiliated with CBS Sports’ national operation, but Sanders was unmoved.

“You are who you are. CBS is CBS. … What they did was foul,” Sanders said.

It was not entirely clear what CBS did to draw the ire of Sanders, but some noted that several months ago, the national CBS Sports website published a list ranking every power conference coach from 1 to 68. Sanders ranked 61st, putting him in the bottom ten. As Christensen noted, he and his outlet would have had nothing to do with that list, but Sanders was not in a forgiving mood.

Sanders has never been shy about taking on reporters that he thinks provide negative coverage of his team. It is a potent message when things are going well, as they were to start the 2023 season. It might wear thin, however, if the 2024 team does not significantly improve on last year’s 4-8 record.

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