"Other coaches get way more grace": 2x SB champ Torrey Smith defends Deion Sanders after Colorado bans Denver columnist
On August 23, Deion Sanders' Colorado Buffaloes barred The Denver Post's Sean Keeler from asking questions to anyone at the program. A statement sent to the newspaper's editorial staff explained the reasoning behind the decision as follows:
“After a series of sustained, personal attacks on the football program and specifically Coach Prime, the CU Athletic Department in conjunction with the football program, have decided not to take questions from Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler at football-related events.”
They also sent a list of what they described as personal attacks, which included phrases such as “false prophet,” “Deposition Deion,” “Planet Prime,” “Bruce Lee of B.S.,” “the Deion Kool-Aid,” and “circus.”
While Deion Sanders has generally been catching flak for the decision, former two-time Super Bowl champion Torrey Smith is among those who support the Colorado coach.
"Coach Prime gets hate simply for existing. Other coaches get way more grace too. I’ll save that convo for another day," Smith wrote on X.
The school didn't mention whether Sean Keeler's ban was something Deion Sanders had personally requested. They did say that the decision was indefinite and that Sanders would be answering questions from other members of The Denver Post.
It's important to note that Keeler's latest story was a controversial one. The journalist wrote about special teams coach Trevor Reilly traveling to Saudi Arabia to leverage potential NIL deals from the country's Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Saudi Arabia's PIF has made incredible investments in sports over the last few years, with the entity involved in buying English Premier League club Newcastle United and contributing to merging LIV Golf with the PGA Tour.
This isn't the first time Deion Sanders has banned members of the media
While Deion Sanders was the head coach of the Jackson Tigers at the FCS, the program banned a reporter from the Jackson Clarion-Ledger from covering the Southwestern Athletic Conference Media Day.
The reporter had written a story about an alleged domestic violence incident involving one of the school's top recruits.
Colorado starts its season on August 29 against North Dakota State at 8 p.m. ET. The game will be played at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado, and can be watched on ESPN.