All about the money? Deion Sanders’ latest attack on media might be silliest yet

They hate us, 'cuz they ain't us. Colorado head coach Deion Sanders essentially accused reporters Tuesday of having ulterior motives for questioning his team's shaky 2-1 start to the 2024 season.

"Once upon a time you guys never attacked college players," Sanders said in a news conference. "Now they're making more money than y'all and some of y'all are envious and jealous about that so you're on the attack."

"It was 'hands off a college player because he was an amateur,'" he continued. "Now it's hands on, 'go at 'em any way you want, they're making more money than me and I'm mad about it.'"

What is Deion Sanders ranting about this time?

Granted, sports writers don't make nearly as much as college athletes, particularly football players, make in NIL deals. But one critical aspect Sanders is missing is that it's not just sports writers who are talking about Colorado's poor 2-1 start.

The personalities and television journalists who are paid multi-million dollar contracts also have critical things to say about how the program plays football.

For example, CBS Sports commentators had valid points of criticism over Sanders' handling of the final minutes of the Colorado-Colorado State game.

This isn't about the money whatsoever and Sanders' projection of reporters' supposed insecurities over the salaries of college players is just plain absurd.

Colorado is just as deserving of criticism as any other program. The perceived targeting of the program is only because Sanders and his players willingly put themselves in the spotlight each week.

"When you attack 'em, attack 'em, attack 'em, these guys are sensitive, they've never been attacked," Sanders pleaded. "They haven't gone through what a grown man — what I've gone through with y'all for years, they haven't done that."

Everyone needs to reevaluate their priorities here

Colorado is a high-profile program because of Sanders, whether he thinks so or not (he'll never admit it). So, he needs to recognize that his program will be held to a higher standard because of everything he's promised to deliver.

Reporters and newsrooms must also take a moment to ask themselves, if Colorado's off-field blunders are worth as much time as they're being given.

"It is what it is," Sanders said. "I know you're going to do your job and what you must do but your job does not say attack... The personal stuff leave it to be personal because if we started flipping the script on y'all you wouldn't like it."

Sanders' team is far from irrelevant, as some would like to believe, but that relevancy comes at a cost. Just ask Nick Saban and Alabama every time they lost or barely scraped out ugly wins.

Demanding respect and commanding a reputation of excellence requires humility in the face of adversity. All Sanders has done is deflect, deflect, deflect in the name of defending his guys.

"When I say I genuinely love these kids, I genuinely really do," Sanders said. "It's not about what they can do for me on the football field, it's about what I can help them with in life."

He has every right to protect his players but refusing to acknowledge and respectfully counter criticism when it's warranted is the sign of poor leadership — and Colorado's chaotic record reflects such.