Deion Sanders wants all the credit and none of the scrutiny, but college football doesn't work that way

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

When news broke about Colorado indefinitely banning a Denver Post columnist from asking questions of Deion Sanders or anyone else involved in the program, my eyes immediately rolled into my head.

Here we go. We’ve already got a “The media is against us!” conspiracy popping off and it’s technically not even Week 1 yet.

Deion Sanders: Banning a Denver Post reporter is petty, silly and unnecessary

I don’t like to make big deals out of stories like this. As a media member myself, I think the hand-wringing can go a little too far. We need to protect our institution, but I also don’t think Sean Keeler, the reporter and columnist in question here, is completely right, either.

When the Post explained why Keeler was banned, the university cited a slew of “personal attacks” aimed at Sanders by the columnist. He’d called the head coach names like “Deposition Deion” and “The Bruce Lee of B.S.” Are those names worth banning? No. But it’s not shocking that Sanders might refuse questions from someone who wrote those things about him.

I’m not that interested in re-litigating that. While this instance alone is concerning, in a vacuum, it’s not that big of a deal.

But simply looking at this in a vacuum is a mistake.

Sanders’ contentious relationship with the media points to a larger problem with Colorado’s head coach. He’s not just levying criticism anymore — Sanders is whining now. And, to be frank, it looks and sounds weak.

For example, on Wednesday, Sanders spoke with the The Sporting News about this upcoming season for Colorado. The Colorado head coach snuck in this downright strange quote that will have you scratching your head after you read it.

“Let’s just say, for instance, if we won 10 games and we had 10 guys go to jail, I’d be up there on the cross right there with Jesus,” Sanders said. “You wouldn’t give a durn about the 10 wins. You would focus on what’s not right.”

Deion Sanders to @sportingnews: "Let's just say for instance, if we won 10 games and we had 10 guys go to jail, I'd be up there on the cross right there with Jesus. You wouldn't give a durn about the 10 wins. You would focus on what's not right."https://t.co/SkHdNXERTk

— Bill Bender (@BillBender92) August 28, 2024

Just ignore the fact that he kind of compared himself to Jesus Christ here. He’s saying that if Colorado had 10 guys go to jail while having a 10-win season, we’d tear him down for the jailed players.

I don’t even know where to begin with this.

First of all, yeah, we’d care that you were running a program that had 10 players go to jail. I don’t think I’d need to explain why that’s a big deal — especially when compared to 10 measly wins in a college football season.

Second, there’s plenty of history out there that says that a lot of people actually wouldn’t care about the wins. Have you ever heard of Urban Meyer? Just checking. People ignored a whole lot during his time at Florida.

Pushing all of that aside, though, what are we doing here? Why is Sanders whining like this? It seems so strange.

I mean, he’s hardly the only coach in college football history to complain about the media. They all do it. But he’s got a history of being combative that’s becoming downright alarming.

It’s not just Keeler and the Denver Post. In that same August 9 press conference, he also spat with a CBS reporter. He called out a reporter after Colorado’s opening win against TCU last season. He blocked a Clarion-Ledger reporter from Jackson State’s media day after a story on a domestic violence charge against a high school recruit.

It’s one thing to challenge reporting and push back against it, but Sanders seems to believe he’s beyond reproach. He wants all the glory and none of the criticism.

But here’s the thing: That’s not possible. Eventually, every outlet that comes through Boulder is going to write something that you don’t agree with at some point. That’s just how the game goes. Will Sanders and Buffalo push the eject button on every reporter and outlet they disagree with? A better question: What happens when the student paper challenges the coach? Will it be punished, too? Let’s ask Charlie Weis how that goes.

There’s only so much controlling Sanders can do from his standpoint, anyway. Even if you carefully curate who is and isn’t allowed to speak to folks in your program, the boosters will always talk. Anonymously, sure. But they’ll talk. And if they want you gone? You’re out of there. There’s no stopping that.

Look. Sanders believes he’s covered on a different scale, and maybe he’s right!

Sanders is polarizing. He’s brought eyes to Colorado that the school, otherwise, would not have. Not only that, but he’s also challenged the conventions of what a typical college coach should be. He doesn’t care about recruiting. He embraces the transfer portal. He’s showy, and he allows his players to be that, too.

When it goes right, it’s really cool. His belief in his guys is awesome. He’s a great trash-talker, obviously, and that makes for some compelling TV. Celebrities are front and center for his games.

But when it doesn’t, people will rightfully criticize your operation. That’s how this thing works — it always has been and always will be.

Sanders better get used to it. If he doesn’t like how things are going now, I’d hate to see how he reacts to scrutiny if Colorado ever gets to those 10 wins.

Shohei’s historic month

Aaron Judge has been rightfully stealing headlines this month in baseball, but Shohei Ohtani has been putting on quite the show himself.

He hit his 42nd homer of the season on Wednesday against the Orioles, which was actually his 10th for the month. He also stole his 42nd base for the season.

With his homer, Ohtani became the eighth player in MLB history to hit 10 homers and steal 10 bases in a single month, per SB Nation’s Eric Stephens.

Shohei Ohtani hit his 10th home run of August, to go with 12 stolen bases.

The eighth 10-10 month in MLB history https://t.co/r71NtiaeLa

— Eric Stephen (@ericstephen) August 29, 2024

He’s also on pace to become the only player in MLB history to hit at least 43 homers and steal 43 bases in a single season.

This guy is ridiculous. He’s worth every deferred penny the Dodgers will pay him someday. That’s your runaway NL MVP, folks.

A bit of a complication

Tom Brady will be calling football games for Fox this season after signing a 10-year, $375 million deal with the network, but he might have some difficulty doing so.

According to new reporting from ESPN’s Seth Wickersham, Brady’s partial ownership bid with the Raiders will require him to do his job with some pretty hefty restrictions.

Usually, broadcast crews get loads of access to teams ahead of the production. They get a tour of the facilities, watch practices and more. Most importantly, they speak with players and coaches ahead of the game to get an idea of what they’re trying to do in the game. Those details are discussed in production meetings and reported throughout the broadcast.

Brady won’t be able to do any of that.

His business on the backend with the Raiders blocks him from gaining access. He’s also subject to the league’s tampering policy, its gambling policy and can only have “social interactions” with the players while working.

Will Brady still be able to do his job? Sure. It can work. But it’s going to be difficult. And, as a first-timer in the booth, you’ve got to wonder if it’ll be good.

Personally, I hope so for all of our sakes.

Quick hits: College Football Ratchability Rankings … DiJonai vs. Indiana … and more

— Here’s Mitchell Northam with Watchability Rankings for Week 1 of the college football season. Let’s get it!

— DiJonai Carrington says the Indiana Fever have the “nastiest” fanbase in the WNBA. Here’s Meg Hall with more.

— Here’s Christian D’Andrea on Jacoby Brissett being the Patriots’ crash test dummy for week 1. Good luck to him.

— Shoutout to Shohei Ohtani’s very good dog, Decoy. This is amazing. Here’s Charles Curtis with more.

— Here’s Christian with one underrated player from every NFL team that will impact their playoff hopes.

— Blake Schuster has the spreads for Week 1 in college football. We’ve arrived, folks.

That’s a wrap! Happy Thursday. Thanks so much for rocking with us. Let’s do this again tomorrow. Peace.

-Sykes