Boy, oh boy. Talk about poking a sleeping bear!
Colorado has been the talk of college football thus far. The edge that Deion Sanders’ team plays with has been extremely evident. They look for motivation at every corner.
Their motivation for the season opener against TCU was obvious. They were a 20+ point underdog and were looking to prove that they belonged with the big boys.
Their second game against rival Nebraska was their home-opener where quarterback Shedeur Sanders accused Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule of disrespecting them and his father, Prime.
(That “disrespect” seemed manufactured by Shedeur, but hey, whatever gets you going!)
Fast forward to now, they’re set to take on Colorado State. Yes, it’s a nice little in-state rivalry, but the Rams are the farthest thing from world-beaters and there’s concern that some Colorado players may already be looking ahead to next week’s showdown at Oregon.
In other words, Colorado State may have their in-state enemy right where they want them. Let sleeping dogs lie, right?
WRONG!
Rams head coach Jay Norvell decided to take a shot at Deion Sanders during his weekly radio show in Colorado.
“I don’t care if they hear this in Boulder. I told them [ESPN] – I took my hat off, and I took my glasses off. I said, ‘When I talk to grown-ups, I take my hat and my glasses off. That’s what my mother taught me,'” Norvell said.
Jay Norvell speaking on Deion Sanders before Saturday's matchup 🌶️ pic.twitter.com/0w5lQ2obak
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 14, 2023
Norvell’s comments were met with applause from the live audience and the show’s host, Colorado State football radio voice Brian Roth.
However, those comments quickly made their way to Prime and his Buffaloes.
“I’m minding my own business watching some film, trying to get ready, trying to get out here and be the best coach that I could be, and I look up and I read some bull junk that they had said about us, once again,” Sanders told his team.
“Why would you want to talk about us when we don’t talk about nobody? All we do is go out here, work our butts off and do our job on Saturday. But when they give us ammunition, they done messed around and made it personal.”
“It was just gonna be a good game, but they done messed around and made it PERSONAL” 😳
“Why would you talk about us, when we don’t talk about nobody”
Deion Sanders responds to comments made from Coach Norvell and things are getting heated 👀 pic.twitter.com/U9Em4bPiJ5
— College Transfer Portal (@CollegeFBPortal) September 14, 2023
“It was just gonna be a good game and they done messed around and made it personal. It was gonna be a great task – a battle of Colorado – but they done messed around and made it personal,” Sanders continued.
It’s seems that since @DeionSanders & his @CUBuffsFootbal have proved they belonged coaches have resorted to attacking them personally. Colorado State’s Jay Norvell volunteered to repeat what his mother “taught” him. I wonder if this to imply that Deion’s mother didn’t raise him… pic.twitter.com/rOnB1czqKr
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) September 14, 2023
In fairness to Norvell, he also complimented Deion and the Buffaloes profusely during his interview…
“They got a good football team, and their quarterback has been the difference,” Norvell said. “He’s playing at a very high level. We’re gonna have to slow him down.”
He also gushed about Prime at a press conference earlier in the week…
“Deion Sanders has had a lot of public critics. I’m not one of them,” Norvell said. “I really respect all head coaches and the sacrifices they’ve had to make to become head coaches, and I appreciate the path they have to go through to get there – especially African American coaches. I was happy to see Deion get his opportunity. I had to wait a long time to get mine.”
However, there’s no taking back Norvell’s other comment. The shot is fired, and the damage is done.
Having said that, with ESPN College GameDay in town, a little extra animosity and buzz certainly doesn’t hurt.
What do you think of Norvell’s comments?
Was it dumb for him to say what he did? Or will the extra fire it’s caused in-turn help his Rams compete against the heavily-favored Buffaloes?