Sanders urged his players to change their approach to academics
The Deion Sanders-led Colorado Buffaloes took the college football world by storm last season. The Buffaloes had a disappointing finish to the season but have added several notable players to the roster over the past few months and will enter the 2024 campaign with high expectations.
While Sanders is working to make sure the team is fully prepared for the upcoming football season, he also wants to ensure the players are focused on excelling in the classroom.
Sanders was recently on the receiving end of a sharply worded letter from a University of Colorado professor, which provided details of some players' lack of "personal responsibility" with academics.
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CU football head coach Deion Sanders exits the locker room for the Rocky Mountain Showdown Sept. 16, 2023, at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo. (Cris Tille/USA Today Network)
Well Off Media shared a YouTube video of Sanders reading the letter he received from the professor. Sanders' son, Deion Sanders Jr., manages Well Off Media's content.
"This semester has been extremely challenging for me as a professor," Sanders said, reading the letter aloud during what appeared to be a team meeting. "I have never felt so disrespected in my ten years of teaching. Students do not follow even minimally, and it slows down my class so much. They make it clear that they don't want to be here and have very little personal responsibility."
The two-time Super Bowl champion then began emphasizing the importance of classroom conduct.
Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders before a game against the Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium Sept. 23, 2023. (The Denver Post via Getty Images)
"You present, but you ain’t really there," Sanders said. "You on the field, but you ain’t really doing nothing. You in a relationship, but you ain’t got no love. You at the mall, but you ain’t got no money. Got a lot of ability, but no darn talent because you don’t think."
Sanders then mentioned players' respective NFL Draft "grades." Someone, presumably a member of Colorado's staff, then suggested some players on the team lacked a grade entirely.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders walks the sideline against Arizona at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo., Nov. 11, 2023. (Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
"You gonna get something out of this," Sanders told the team. "You gonna be a man or you're going to be a great football player. Since you choose not to be a great football player, we gotta make you a man."
Sanders seemed compelled to remind some of the players about the reality many of them will not make it to the NFL.
"I’m a little frustrated. I’m a little angry right now, because … we got youngsters that’s all in on one side of the game," Sanders added.
"Ninety percent or 95% of your roster ain’t going pro. So, coaches, we gotta emphasize education. We gotta emphasize life. We gotta emphasize the next step, the next elevation if it don’t work in the game."
Colorado will play its first season this fall as a member of the Big 12 after the school's departure from the Pac-12 Conference. The Buffaloes finished last season with a 4-8 record, but star quarterback Shedeur Sanders is returning for his senior season.
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Chantz Martin is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.
