Deion Sanders’ press conferences often feel like sermons. When he’s on his feet, his words have a rhythm and energy reminiscent of a black church on a Sunday morning. He makes you believe his purpose at Colorado is bigger than football. Winning may be important, but it’s essential to develop complete people, not just all-around players. When he talks about the type of freshman he’s looking for, he mentions intelligence, speed and toughness, but he’s even more emphatic when he mentions character and discipline. He lingers on those words, and he lets them hang in the air for a while.
Today, those words ring hollow. Today, Sanders sounds and looks like a hypocrite. The man who once refused to ignore minor insults from opposing coaches because “my mom taught me not to just attack me, and I’m not going to just sit back and say nothing” now refuses to take questions from local columnists because he doesn’t like what they wrote about him and his program.
From my perspective, that doesn’t seem like character, it seems more like cowardice.
Going deeper
Sanders, Buffaloes won’t answer local columnist’s questions
Everyone knows you don’t run from a bully. Stand up to the person the bully is. If Coach Sanders is up two or three points on the road against an opponent with a touchdown lead, would he tell his team to run and hide? Of course not. He would tell his players to hang in there and show up.
But in this case, he requested or authorized the Colorado athletic department to inform The Denver Post that no one associated with the football program would be answering questions from Keeler because of a “series of continuing personal attacks” by columnist Sean Keeler in his coverage of the program. Asked for specific examples, sports information staff cited the use of phrases such as “false prophet,” “Deposition Dion,” “Planet Prime,” “BS Bruce Lee,” “Dion Kool-Aid” and “circus,” according to the Post.
It’s understandable that Sanders is troubled by such portrayals, and that an FBS head coach has to have skin thicker than a sheet of toilet paper, but Sanders has never dealt well with criticism, even from his days as a professional football and baseball player.

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Decades ago, when he suited up for the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Falcons on the same day, catcher-turned-announcer Tim McCarver criticized him. McCarver was a purist and didn’t like what he felt was a circus-like affair. Sanders responded afterward by pouring multiple buckets of ice water over McCarver’s head in the clubhouse.
A few years ago, while coaching at Jackson State, Sanders refused to answer a reporter’s question at Southwestern Conference media day when the reporter called him “Dion” instead of “Coach Prime.”
“If you call Nick (Saban) Nick, you’re gonna get called out on the spot,” Sanders told reporters, referring to the former Alabama coach. “So don’t do that to me. Treat me like Nick.”
Two weeks ago, Sanders dismissively dismissed a CBS reporter after learning of his affiliation.
“I’m not doing anything with CBS. Next question,” he said. “It has nothing to do with you. It’s more than that. It has nothing to do with you. I love you. I appreciate you. I respect you. It has nothing to do with you. They know what they’ve done.”
At the same press conference, Sanders also did not answer questions from Keeler: Once is an accident, twice is coincidence, three times is a pattern of behavior.
Sanders reconciled with CBS reporter Erik Christensen the following week, offering a one-on-one interview, but the situation with Keeler likely won’t be resolved as quickly or smoothly. The network hasn’t said if or when its position will change, but said it will continue to accredit Keeler and other Washington Post reporters at games, practices and other football events. Keeler won’t be available to answer questions from football programs, but he will be available to interview administrators, coaches and participants from other sports.
Attempts to control the sports media are nothing new, especially in college football: In 2012, USC temporarily suspended a media member who covered a player’s injury, and last season, the Trojans temporarily suspended a reporter who covered a conversation between two players in front of the media.
There are plenty of other examples and battles that go unheard of, of coaches who preach love, peace and empathy but shy away from opportunities to teach their players how to handle difficult situations. But that’s what bullies do. When they see they can’t win, they run, giving ammunition to critics who claim that what they preach is nothing more than empty words.
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(Photo by Louis Grasset/Getty Images)