Deion Sanders and the University of Colorado Boulder Buffaloes had their first loss of the season on Saturday (Sept. 23) against the University of Oregon Ducks, who are ranked No. 10. The NCAA underdogs, who only managed to win one game last year under then-head coach Karl Dorrell, were 3-0 with the retired NFL star at the helm until yesterday’s final scoreboard read 42-6.
Since taking over coaching duties at the Big 12 program, Sanders has been a divisive presence in college football — people either love his confidence or have a disdain for it. After the Buffs’ defeat, the latter took over social media, leaving Black Twitter to question why many of the critics’ insults were laced with vitriol and, in some instances, seemed to have an undertone of racist intent.
“THE RACISM toward Deion Sanders IS DESPICABLE. But we have seen this movie before. Certain kinds of folks have a huge problem with confident and visionary Black males, including in sports. Be it Muhammad Ali or Michigan’s Fab Five, same kind of hater-ism,” wrote one person.
“Bro, they are so happy Prime lost. This country hates success for Black people,” tweeted another person. The floodgates to the discourse opened wide when journalist Kari Steele tweeted, “Oregon is taking a stand for all of us.” None of the banter about him or the team is lost on Sanders.
“Teams are trying to beat me; they’re not trying to beat our team. They keep forgetting I’m not playing anymore. I had a great career. I’ve got a gold jacket,” Sanders said in a post-game conference. Ahead of the showdown, Oregon head coach Dan Lanning snidely remarked that the Buffs were all about getting online attention instead of dominating on the gridiron.
“I don’t say stuff just to say it for a click, contrary to what somebody [said]… yeah, yeah, I keep receipts,” said Sanders. He went on to add that now is the time for haters to pile on with jabs. “You better get me right now. This is the worst we gon’ be. You better get me right now … God bless him, though. He’s a great coach; he did a great job. God bless him. They take they shots. They won. I don’t shoot. I don’t do that. They won,” added the football great.
The Buffs’ next opponent is the University of Southern California Trojans on Sept. 30. The SoCal team is currently ranked No. 5, so the matchup is not expected to be a cakewalk for Colorado.