Deion Sanders, Colorado ban local columnist from questioning football team

Deion Sanders will not take questions this season from a specific columnist at The Denver Post. 

That was probably evident to anyone who observed Sanders’ press conference during Colorado’s recent fall sports media day, when he sparred with multiple journalists over perceived slights and would not let them ask questions. But it was confirmed on Friday, when The Post received a statement from CU athletic department officials that columnist Sean Keeler had been barred from asking questions of Sanders or anyone else within the Buffs’ football program for an indefinite period of time.

Colorado claims the decision was due to what it perceived were “a series of sustained, personal attacks” from Keeler toward the football program and Sanders specifically. When asked by The Post for specific examples, a sports information staffer cited phrases such as “false prophet,” “Deposition Deion,” “Planet Prime,” “Bruce Lee of B.S.,” “the Deion Kool-Aid” and “circus.”

According to The Post, Sanders has specific language in his contract that requires him to speak only with “mutually agreed upon media” as part of his employment with the university.

The Post states that specific clause does not appear in the contracts of men’s basketball coach Tad Boyle or women’s basketball coach JR Payne. It was also not included in Karl Dorrell’s contract — the CU football coach prior to Sanders.

When asked by The Post what specific media policies Keeler had violated, a sports information staffer said Keeler had not violated any specific policies.

Keeler was involved in the interaction with Sanders that made rounds earlier this month. Sanders accused Keeler of “always being on the attack” and the 2 went back-and-forth before Sanders moved on to a question about his birthday.

Pretty tense moment, I guess, between Deion Sanders and a reporter looking to ask a question.

Follow-up question was about Deion’s birthday plans…

Via: @9NEWS pic.twitter.com/RhNBjZeD8Y

— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) August 9, 2024

The Post also references one other time in which Sanders, then at Jackson State, barred a reporter from the Jackson Clarion-Ledger from covering the football team at SWAC Media Day. The move from Jackson State came just 1 day after that same reporter wrote a story detailing a domestic violence charge against one of the team’s top recruits.

Sanders has routinely used media clippings and talking points to motivate. As Sanders and the Buffs raced out to a 3-0 start last season, Sanders was quick to question those who doubted his comprehensive overhaul of the team’s roster.

“What we accomplished out there today, ain’t none of y’all believed that,” Sanders said after his Buffs beat TCU to open the season. “Maybe a couple of y’all that knew me and know how I get down. They know I’m a winner. We’re gonna end up winning.

“Ain’t none of y’all thought we’d be sitting up here. You was supposed to be on the other side interviewing them and coming and asking me, ‘Well, what happened? You said this and you said that.’ Yeah. And now what? Now what? Everybody quiet now. Now what?”

At one point during that same press conference, Sanders interrupted a reporter before they could get a question out. “Do you believe now?” he asked. “I read through that bull junk you wrote. I read through all that.” When the reporter responded, “believe what?” Sanders laughed and said, “Next question.”

Colorado lost 8 of its next 11 games, including 8 of the final 9, to finish with the same conference record (1-8) as the year prior.

This offseason, Sanders has once again remade the roster, shuffling off players who didn’t play up to the set standard and replacing them in the transfer portal. At the start of the 2023 season, only 10 scholarship players remained from the previous year’s roster.  At the start of the 2024 season, more than half of last year’s newcomers have already gone right back out the door.

The offensive line is almost entirely new — not just starters. Both coordinators were replaced. Change has been the only constant of the Sanders era thus far.

And that doesn’t typically lend itself to year-over-year improvement. Sanders is looking to buck that trend. Colorado’s win total sits at 5.5 ahead of the 2024 campaign — the official re-entry into the Big 12. There’s a fair bit of confidence the Buffs will make a bowl game, with the over carrying -128 odds at FanDuel (56% implied probability).

Some — notably Joel Klatt, a program alum — have suggested Colorado is a sleeper team in the Big 12. ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) says there’s a 63.2% chance the Buffs reach 6 wins this season.

They open the season next Thursday against FCS power North Dakota State at home. Kickoff is at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Derek Peterson

Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.