When Colorado Buffalos head coach Deion Sanders talked about his personal criteria for choosing football players, he probably didn’t anticipate the amount of backlash he received for his comments. While the majority of the viewers criticized Sanders, NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal was among the few who backed him up. The Los Angeles Lakers legend felt that Sanders was spitting facts about the different types of attributes he looked for in a player. This is probably why Shaq chose to show his support for the NFL veteran once again.

In an episode of The Rich Eisen Show, coach Deion Sanders said that when it came to recruiting quarterbacks, he looked for players who came from households that have both parents. Whereas, while choosing DEs, Sanders looked for kids with single moms. Consequently, his controversial statement sparked a debate among sports fans causing an uproar.

Deion Sanders defends his statement

After facing harsh criticism, the Dallas Cowboys legend shared a podcast video on his Instagram handle. It was an excerpt of him responding to the backlashes in the latest episode of The Pivot Podcast. In the clip, podcast co-host and former NFL player Channing Crowder asked Deion Sanders if he was surprised by the negative response.

Sanders replied, “I don’t get off by the claps of the people man. They don’t bring up and don’t bring me down. That means I’m giving you my remote control, let you turn me, click me the way you want. Ain’t never been built like that. So if I’m gonna get up, that means I’m gonna be happy and elated that when you’re clapping. That means you have the propensity also to bring me down and make me sad, and distraught, and angry. And I’m not built like that.”

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Furthermore, he added, “I’ve always been me. I’ve always walked to a different beat. I’ve always tried to treat people right. Look people in the eye and be 100% with them. I’ve never been any different and I ain’t gonna be. So I don’t do it for that, I do it for that.”

Shaquille O’Neal stands by Sanders

After Deion Sanders’ comments spread like wildfire, Shaquille O’Neal boldly defended the NFL veteran in an episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq. Shaq was quick to jump to Sanders’ defense when co-host Nischelle Turner criticized Sanders for his choice of player attributes. He said, “Ain’t nothing wrong with that. There’s nothing wrong with what he said.”

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After making his stance clear through his podcast, the Big Aristotle took to social media next, to reshare Sanders’ podcast video on his Instagram stories as a silent support. It seems like