Colorado’s trip to Northwestern quickly went from a difficult road game to an evening the Buffaloes would rather forget. Deion Sanders’ team suffered a 41-7 loss, while a pregame video of players trash-talking the Wildcats’ stadium sparked further backlash online, eventually leading Sanders and safety Ben Finneseth to apologize.
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“Great conversations, and they went on to kick our butts. But I have the utmost respect for that school, that team, what they’re doing with the program, and some foolishness came out of me, and we want to correct our wrongs and make it right right now,” said Sanders during a media-day briefing before calling safety Ben Finneseth to apologize to the Northwestern team following the misconduct.
“I just want to apologize, first of all, to you guys, to everyone that’s tied into the university, to everyone at Northwestern, to everyone that supports us, to my teammates, my coaches. It was childish. It was a stupid thing that I said. It won’t happen again, and the way I handled it was horrible, and I promise you guys that it will not happen again, and I will be much more mature for this,” said Finneseth, standing behind ‘Coach Prime’
The incident happened just before kickoff, when several Colorado players, as seen in a video uploaded by Bleacher Report, were caught trash-talking their opponents.
The footage showed the players mocking the venue, shouting, “This place f–king sucks. It sounds like the f–king library,” before they eventually suffered a crushing 34-point loss.
While the team has received its fair share of backlash from fans after the incident made rounds on social media, a formal apology is not the only thing awaiting the players, as ‘Coach Prime’ highlighted that they will also be punished for their actions.
During media day, when a reporter asked Sanders about dismissing players and whether it was due to a pattern of behaviour or something else, ‘Coach Prime’ emphasised that he is a forgiving man. Still, he needs to draw a line somewhere.
“Those guys can tell you, I’m the most loving and giving and forgiving man you could ever meet. But when you start being kind of detrimental to the team, that will set us back, and when you’re doing things that show you don’t care about the team, you care about you. I have a problem with that. And a year ago, I didn’t put my foot down in it enough,” said Sanders.
A similar moment unfolded in 2023, ahead of the highly anticipated Colorado State rivalry. Rams head coach Jay Norvell publicly criticised Deion Sanders for not removing his hat and sunglasses when speaking to adults.
Sanders and his players turned the remark into a pregame joke, mocking Norvell in the locker room as Coach Prime handed out free pairs of Blenders sunglasses to the entire team.
In another incident last year, when the Buffaloes faced the BYU Cougars, Colorado fans were heard chanting expletives and religious slurs at the visiting players and supporters.
The chants targeted the faith of BYU’s sponsoring institution. Following the incident, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark fined the University of Colorado $50,000 for the misconduct at Folsom Field.
Well, things have been getting out of hand for Deion Sanders and the Colorado front office, making action necessary.