A federal judge in Colorado may have just reopened the door for a wave of former college athletes on July 31. After Judge Swinney’s recent injunction, which allows Class of 2022 players to receive an extra year of eligibility, within little time, plenty of names started popping up as potential returnees. For some, it was a rare second chance at glory. But for Deion Sanders, it’s a no-no zone.

“I know there’s a lot of talk going around that some former players may be able to come back and play,” Deion Sanders said at the Colorado Buffaloes’ first team meeting for the 2026 season. “It’s funny because they brought me the list of names and told me what could possibly happen.

“Guess what? Some of the guys who could have come back can’t because of their grades. They didn’t take care of business on the way out. Now they’re probably saying, ‘Lord, if I had one more chance.’ But they don’t have that chance because of how they left us. I wouldn’t bring them back anyway because they left us in a bad spot and hurt our GPA.”

Although Sanders admitted the coaching staff is still trying to figure out the legal side of things because nobody really knows what the NCAA is going to do next, it’s a confusing situation, to say the least. Colorado is still actively working through the details to see what is even allowed.

However, former Colorado players who are now eligible after Judge Swinney’s injunction most definitely aren’t making the cut. Even though they are eligible under the injunction, they are automatically disqualified from returning because of their bad grades.

Coach Prime didn’t hold back, saying they brought this on themselves because of how they chose to leave the university. Their poor academic effort left the Colorado program in a really tough spot and actively dragged down the team’s overall GPA.

If you have watched Colorado over the last three years under Sanders’ tenure, you know Deion Sanders doesn’t play about grades. In fact, he’s so adamant that if a player slacks off in the classroom, he views it as a selfish act and has warned to cut them off. He even made sure his players sit in the very first bench in the classroom.

For Coach Sanders, the NFL is “Not For Long.” As much as he wants his players to make the big league, he’s well aware that only a handful of them make a 53-man NFL roster. To make sure they don’t end up clueless and directionless, Sanders holds grades as important as football.

By doing so, Sanders helped the Colorado Buffaloes officially set a 135-year-old school record by posting a cumulative 3.011 team GPA.

At the end of the day, Coach Prime’s message to the current roster was all about accountability and finishing strong. He used the former players as a harsh warning to show what happens when you don’t take care of your business on and off the field. By laying it all out there, he made it clear that Colorado is only interested in players who are fully committed to protecting the team’s culture and GPA.