With college football underway and schools across the country preparing for their Week 1 matchups, the Deion Sanders media cycle begins anew. The audacious Coach Prime didn't even wait for his team to take the field to make headlines.
Over the weekend, news broke that Colorado had banned Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler from asking Sanders questions, saying the NFL Hall of Famer had suffered a "series of sustained, personal attacks" from Keeler. Keeler is still permitted to attend football events but Sanders and all other members of the program will refuse to take his questions. It was a shocking action but one Sanders is permitted to take; the Denver Post reported Sanders' contract dictates he is only required to speak to "mutually agreed upon media."
On Monday, college football media guru Paul Finebaum appeared on ESPN's Get Up to react to the decision from Sanders and Colorado. He was quite critical. To say the least.
"Coach Prime is showing he is not ready for primetime," Finebaum told host Mike Greenberg. "I find this whole thing disgraceful. Deion, they want to talk about love and joy, and that's been the cornerstone of what he seems to be spewing out. But treating reporters like this seems like we're in some autocratic country. This is not America. The fact that it's in his contract is even more absurd.
"Don't forget: he did this at Jackson State. This is a trait of Deion Sanders. He wants to have it his way, and I find him to be a bully and a hypocrite. Quite frankly, as someone who has been a fan of his throughout his entire career, even at Colorado, I am mortified by his actions."
Paul Finebaum on Colorado banning The Denver Post's Sean Keeler from press conferences: "Coach Prime is showing he is not ready for primetime, Greeny. I find this whole thing disgraceful... treating reporters like this seems like we're in some autocratic country. This is not… pic.twitter.com/NMIdmxzUgY
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 26, 2024
Sanders' attitude towards media has come under a brighter spotlight than ever in the lead-up to the 2024 season. Shortly before Keeler's ban, Sanders went viral for outright refusing to answer a CBS Sports reporter's question at a press conference because CBS "knows what they did." A university spokesperson was unable to explain why Sanders feels that way and to this day nobody really knows "what they did" to elicit such a strong reaction.
While Sanders has developed a reptuation for being combative with media members as a coach, it seems he's taking things to a new level in his second season with the Buffaloes. At this rate, there may be nobody he'll talk to by the end of the season.
Colorado presumably knew what it was signing up for by hiring Sanders. But it's long been the case that results must accompany this sort of sideshow. After going 4-8 in his debut season, expectations are high for Sanders to deliver in 2024. If he doesn't, there will be many segments similar to the one above wondering what the school, and the coach, is doing.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Paul Finebaum Blasts Deion Sanders for ‘Disgraceful’ Ban on Denver Columnist.
