Mike Farrell Sports' Scott Salomon sees Coach Prime's Colorado football program having a "me first" mentality in the locker room after Deion Sanders let his two sons, Shedeur and Shilo, skip the first Buffs team meeting of 2024 to go to Parish Fashion Week.
"What's next? Shedeur misses practice or a game for a GQ modeling gig? Where do you draw the line? This is an instance where NIL has gone too far," Salomon prefaced before saying, "When NIL shticks interfere with team meetings or other team-related activities, a line must be drawn in the sand.
"And you wonder why the Buffs played so poorly on the field last season. It looks like the same 'Me First' mentality will riddle the locker room as it did last season. Deion Sanders would sanction any other player for missing a team meeting, especially the first one, but his boys had a valid, selfish reason not to be there."
How Coach Prime handles sons' Colorado football meeting absences will set tone for locker room
Coach Prime's next moves feel pivotal, here. Let this go without disciplining his sons, even in a consequence-less gesture, and the "Daddy Ball" accusations are going to be back in the forefront in Boulder. It's hard not to think about what Cormani McClain went through last season for being late to practice and meetings.
Imagine if Jordan Seaton passed up on NIL millions from Tennessee only to come to a program where there's a double standard? That's likely the case for many other athletes too if there's not some sort of minor punishment for Coach Prime's sons.
Of course, Coach Prime could be saving those extra laps for when his sons come back to Colorado. Shedeur is still healing from a back injury too, so his will have to wait.
Let's wait and see before passing any more speculative judgement. But some was warranted.