The latest sniping from the Sanders family is a bad look, plain and simple. Very few, except for diehard Deion Sanders fans (aka his cult) can defend it. And it simply doesn’t have to be.
We all know Sanders jettisoned 80% of the roster he inherited when he arrived at Colorado. And we all know he did it with little compassion and tact. The stories from players sent to the portal continue to come out. And while I disagree with how Sanders gutted the roster in an attempt to quick fix a 1-11 team, to each his own. Northwestern and USF were 1-11 and had new coaches last season. Neither gutted the roster and each went to a bowl game in season one, making Deion’s 4-8 record and last place finish in the PAC-12 look horrible. And those coaches didn’t have nearly the same long leash as Sanders at CU. They needed to win faster. But that’s not what this is about.
As a gold jacket Hall of Famer and one of the most polarizing athletes of our time, the brash and cocky Sanders was fun to follow as a player. He was amazing at Florida State, legendary with the Atlanta Falcons and his stints with San Francisco and Dallas cemented his winning legacy. As a player he could do no wrong. You could hate him as I did when he was with the 49ers or love him as a did when he played for my Cowboys. Regardless, you had to respect him. But Deion Sanders the coach is lacking. He’s not appearing to be overly likable and he certainly hasn’t been successful. His FCS record is good but he still fell short with a much more talented roster than anyone else among HBCU coaches. His time at Colorado has been more about flashy content and video views than substance and his refusal to work as a recruiter and rely on the portal is lazy and uninformed. But again, this is about more than that.
Deion has raised his sons to be arrogant like he was and is. The recent Athletic story about how players were sent packing from Colorado could be deemed untimely. It’s May of 2024 and this story comes out a year after all this happened? Why? Clicks. But the responses of his sons and of Deion himself are buying into what people want — attention.
When Shadeur Sanders claps back at a player who complained about how his time at CU was handled by calling him “mid” and when Deion reacts to a twitter troll by asking if their son was going to be a top five pick like his will be, it’s all just defensive and childish.
Ion even remember him tbh. Bro had to be very mid at best. https://t.co/qwK48Ys0Et
— Shedeur Sanders (@ShedeurSanders) April 30, 2024
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Deion Sanders came to the defense of his son Shedeur after yesterday's viral tweet calling a former teammate 'mid'👀https://t.co/RZMS1NZ75s pic.twitter.com/rucOA7jv3A
— On3 (@On3sports) May 1, 2024
Is it necessary? Nope. Does it make them look bad? Yep.
And they don’t care. Narcissists don’t care what anyone else thinks and that’s great if you’re a Hall of Fame millionaire who can’t decipher his role as a dad vs coach. Stephen A Smith said it eloquently about the sons…
Some advice for Shilo and Shedeur Sanders pic.twitter.com/Y8jpLlYWwr
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) May 2, 2024
Someone needs to sit down with Deion and his sons. Whether it’s a player agent trying to protect their NFL Draft status or the president of CU saying how they need to better represent their brand, it has to be someone.
People troll. People write bad things about people. People criticize. I’ve been trolled and criticized for 27 years. Nothing close to what the Sanders endure, nothing close at all, but I’ve felt it. And I’ve handled it. And I don’t have millions on the line, just a brain in my head that tells me whether it’s worth it to engage or not. The QB and leader of a football program shouldn’t be calling transfers mid. The head football coach of a Power 4 university shouldn’t be responding to trolls on social media and saying “he has time” when he hasn’t done a home recruiting visit since he arrived. They brought criticism on themselves with brashness and watch flashing and were humbled down the stretch last season. Fans love to see cocky players and coaches lose, they live for it. So if you create that dynamic you have to sit in it. You can clap back but more and more criticism will come until it costs you real money.
I was excited when Deion was hired at Colorado because he’s a big name. I’m excited he’s there now more than ever with guys like Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh out of college football. But I honestly didn’t see all of this coming. And as much hope as there is for next season being better than last, there’s also a feeling a get that this thing will not just end but crash and burn badly. Colorado could be in worse shape than when he arrived if he bolts off to the NFL with his kids.
It’s too late to stop it. Deion is too much of a narcissist and has too much pride to back down. He doesn’t know how to. So the family will continue to double down on foolishness and the non Colorado and non Deion cult fans will root against them harder than ever. And it didn’t have to be this way.
