Deion Sanders dismantles college sports’ hypocrisy while leading Colorado out of the dark
OPINION: Sanders preached from Day 1 that Colorado was coming. But he was mocked and ridiculed as a fantastic showman and motivational speaker whose reconstructed team had no chance against the big boys. Now his team is ranked in the Top. 25.
Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
In his New York Times bestseller, “The Cruelty is the Point,” Adam Serwer makes the case that President Trump and his supporters find community in the suffering of those they hate and fear.
Replacing a few words in that assertion explains the disruptions roiling major college sports. The shifts have been seismic and unmistakable, flipping players and conferences from coast to coast. As usual, explanations from the industry’s double-dealing powerbrokers are filled with half-truths and whole lies. But Colorado football coach Deion Sanders knows the game inside and out, on and off the field. He’s calling them on their B.S. and putting it in their faces.
The Pac-12 is a dead conference walking, soon to be the Pac-0 despite roots dating to 1915. Power 5 survivors will fatten up on the carcass, with the Big 12 swallowing Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah; the Big 10 biting off USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington; and the ACC loosening its belt to digest Stanford, Cal and SMU. Simultaneously, the old guard is bemoaning athletes’ recently gained ability to easily change schools and make money off themselves.
What? How can coaches, athletic directors, conference commissioners and NCAA officials be so adamantly opposed to athletes’ rights?
“All this is about money, you know that,” Sanders said in response to criticism four weeks ago, before he shocked the establishment by upsetting heavily favored TCU. “It’s about a bag, everybody’s chasing the bag. Then you get mad at the players when they chase it. How is that? How do the grownups get mad at the players when they chase it, when the colleges are chasing it?”
The hypocrisy is the point.
The NCAA and its supporters find community in gaslighting athletes they (perhaps subconsciously) hate and fear.
Insincere administrators within college sports’ industrial complex have peddled a counterfeit bill of goods for decades, claiming that their product is purely about tradition and charm, unlike the pros’ cold and heartless version. Cash doesn’t dictate who gets to coach and play at each level; customs determine how talent is divvied up and placed into buckets labeled like FBS, HBCU, Division II, etc.
In less than three seasons, Sanders has lit a match to the racket. He’s gone from being an outsider to Jackson State’s coach to the hottest star at the big table, seated right beside his Aflac partner, Alabama’s Nick Saban.
Fellow coaches have roasted Sanders for detonating the roster and importing 87 newcomers, an unprecedented reconstruction. Pundits said the Buffaloes should be thrilled to win four or five games this season. Oddsmakers made Colorado a 21-point underdog against TCU.
Sanders preached from Day 1 that Colorado was coming. But he was mocked and ridiculed as a fantastic showman and motivational speaker who was about to get his ass whupped because he’s no longer in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The nerve of thinking he can throw a team together and succeed at a PWI on the highest level!
But the skepticism was over the top, especially since Sanders boasts the nation’s top-ranked transfer class, supported by a Top-30 high school recruiting class. If anyone can attract elite talent to a forlorn program like Colorado — 1-11 last season — it’s Sanders. Game recognizes game, and Sanders resonates with star athletes like few coaches can. Competitors are hereby on notice, with reason for concern when Sanders has postgame chats with their players at midfield.
“When you see a confident Black man, sitting up here talking his talk, walking his walk, coaching 75% of African Americans in the locker room, that’s kind of threatening,” he said after Saturday’s thrilling victory. “Oh, they don’t like that! But guess what? We’re gonna consistently do what we do because I’m here and ain’t going nowhere.
“And I’m about to get comfortable in a minute.”
He can walk around in his drawers with the team now ranked at No. 22. The Buffs have finished in the Top 25 just once ( 2016) in the last 20 seasons. They can expect as much under Sanders, with a distinct HBCU flavor. The University of Colorado is among the whitest schools in major college sports, but we’ve unofficially adopted it like we made Georgetown ours when Big John Thompson took over.
Unlike peers at PWIs, Sanders isn’t selling rah-rah while the cash register goes ching-ching. He’s pushing authentically Black excellence and seeking top dollar, an opportunity rarely afforded coaches and players from HBCUs.
“What we accomplished out there today, ain’t none of y’all believed that,” he said. “I’m a winner. We’re going to end up winning.”
He won the moment he walked in the door. Whatever comes next, he’ll do it in his own inimitable way.
With no hypocrisy.
Deron Snyder, from Brooklyn, is an award-winning columnist who lives near D.C. and pledged Alpha at HU-You Know! He’s reaching high, lying low, moving on, pushing off, keeping up, and throwing down. Got it? Get more at blackdoorventures.com/deron.
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