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Deion Sanders responds to criticism from ESPN pundit Paul Finebaum

Vaseline August 29, 2024

As the Colorado Buffaloes prepare for their season opener, head coach Deion Sanders is once again the center of a media storm.

This time, Sanders clashed with ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum when Grete Griffin, wife of Robert Griffin III and co-host of their podcast “Outta Pocket with RGIII,” asked him to respond to Finebaum’s previous comments that college football “doesn’t mean anything” and is “irrelevant in the grand scheme of college football.”

“But he’s talking about us,” Sanders said on Tuesday’s episode. “How can we be irrelevant and you’re talking about me? Like every time I turn around, someone sends me a quote that you’re talking about me.”

Sanders’ comments prompted Grete Griffin to joke that Finebaum was a Sanders fan.

“Well, the thing about a fan, you have to understand, a fan only blows when you’re hot… so we have to be hot,” Sanders replied.

Sanders added that Finebaum targeted him to stay relevant.

“I know what he’s doing and I’m proud of him for being smart enough to understand that this generation, this thought process and the way we communicate in sports is different and he’s a dying breed,” Sanders said. “So what does he have to do to keep up and keep up with this change, ‘Oh, I’ve got to find that big bad wolf and talk about him so now I maintain my relevance.'”

Finebaum quickly responded to Sanders’ comments on a recent episode of ESPN’s “First Take,” again calling Sanders’ comments “irrelevant.”

Finebaum also criticized Sanders for his program’s policies toward the media. According to The Denver Post, Colorado’s football program told the newspaper last week that it would no longer answer questions from columnist Sean Keeler because of what it saw as “a series of persistent, personal attacks.”

“He did say something that I agree with,” Finebaum said of Sanders’ criticism. “He called me a ‘dying breed’ in the business, which I’m proud of because I truly believe that the media should be treated with respect and not selectively persecuted the way he did, not just with this Denver reporter but with other reporters as well.”

The Buffaloes open their 2024 season on Thursday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time against North Dakota State.