Deion Sanders calls Paul Finebaum a dying breed after frequent Colorado football criticism
Deion Sanders had one of his most backhanded remarks as the head coach of the Colorado football program -- and any other time in his long-chronicled sports career as a player and coach -- when he called Paul Finebaum part of a "dying breed" in sports journalism.
"He talking 'bout us. How can we be irrelevant and you talking about me? Everytime I turn around somebody's sending me a quote that you talkin' 'bout me," Sanders said on Robert Griffin III and his wife Grete's new podcast when the topic of Colorado being called irrelevant by Finebaum was brought up (h/t Sports Illustrated).
"I know what he's doing, and I'm proud of him that he's smart enough to understand that this generation and this thought process and the way we communicate on sports it's different, and he's a dying breed. So what does he have to do to stay and keep up with this change? 'Oh I got to go find that big bad wolf and talk about it, so now I keep my relevancy.' And I'm saying, 'Cool,' but I'm not gon' help you. I'm not going to add to you, I'm not even gonna respond. Because that's what you want. Yeah, you just want me to respond. I don't do that. I'm not gon' help you come up."
Finebaum had this coming, though Coach Prime turned the heat up in the kitchen to an extreme degree. The SEC Network host called Sanders a celebrity coach and labeled the Buffs' early success in 2023 "illegitimate."
Deion Sanders taking no media prisoners ahead of the 2024 Colorado football season
Coach Prime also threatened Athlon Sports' Steve Corder with legal action and went after the local CBS affiliate for the perceived sins of the national CBS conglomerate.
Sanders has been on the warpath during the 2024 season, and the media has been getting mowed down on a local and national level as a result.
Is it all helping his public perception? Questionable. It's definitely getting the pressure off his players.
Of note, though: Corder has not yet been pursued from a legal standpoint; raising questions about why CU wouldn't want to shut it down yet.