By Melvin Whitlock
One can be disappointed in today’s questionable sports journalism of course; however, it should come as no surprise that the integrity of sports media has come under scrutiny in recent years. Hub Akrush, a sportswriter from Chicago with a vote for NFL MVP reaffirmed the fair scrutiny of today’s sports media when he publicly disclosed that he would not vote for Aaron Rodgers in 2021 because he felt Rodgers was “a bad guy” for not disclosing his vaccination. Similarly, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith has become notorious for influencing personal bias on his objective ability to critique professional athletes such as NBA superstar Kyrie Irving and others. Former NFL Hall of Famer and current Colorado University head football coach, Deion Sanders, is the latest target of today’s questionable sports journalism that focuses on creating heroes and villains in today’s sports world.
A few weeks ago, ESPN ran a headline on their website titled “Coach Prime, son, belittle CU transfer, FCS player.” On the surface, the ESPN’s headline of Sanders reflects a cocky coach who selfishly enlisted his son to help attack an innocent player who no longer participates in his program; however, the incident started with the The Athletic sportswriter, Max Olson, decided to seek out as many former Colorado players for his article What Happened to Deion Sanders’ Cast-Offs? Revisiting a Record-Setting Exodus. The player in question who Sanders and son(s) allegedly “belittled,” initiated the conflict by unprovokedly being critical of Sanders in Olson’s interview and on social media.
Before We Judge Sanders for Responding… Let’s Tell the Whole Story
Injury-ridden throughout his high school and early college career, Xavier Smith never played a down for the Colorado Buffalo program during his freshman in 2022 (one-year prior to Sanders’ arrival in Boulder). Acknowledging that he “wasn’t shocked” at being cut when Sanders arrived considering his injury-plagued history, Smith still chose to participate in what I read as a hit piece aimed at deterring high-profile recruits to consider playing for Sanders at Colorado. Smith accused Sanders of being a “confidence killer of his players” and stated of Sanders “bro, you never even tried to get to know me.”
Unfortunately, Olson’s article did more damage to Smith’s credibility as a rising football star by unintentionally positioning him as a sort of ‘scorned girlfriend’ who could not handle being rejected. Chris Sowell, who was also encouraged by Sanders to transfer, did not appear as emotionally traumatized as Smith. Sowell explained his being cut by stating Sanders “didn’t sugar coat it,” and even went further by saying “I do not feel Sanders was being a d—-k about it…I think he was just being straight up…”
‘Confidence Killing Coach’ or ‘Athlete Out of Touch with Reality’
Chris Sowell, former wide-out for the Buffalo’s program just prior to Sanders’ arrival, did not appear as emotionally traumatized as Smith. Sowell stated that Sanders “didn’t sugar coat it,” and even said that he did not feel Sanders was being “a d—k about it…I think he was just being straight up: prove to me that you can play” (Olson, 2024). It cannot be underscored that Sanders provided a reminder to many about the importance of transparency, and to his credit he was never accused by any of the players in the Olson interview of being deceptive or misleading. Even as emotional Smith appears over being cut from the program, even he could not claim that Sanders and his staff was anything less than forthright about Smith’s future in Boulder.
Directly speaking, when did it become the job of an incoming coach to build the confidence of players he told before-hand would likely be over the spring? Smith ultimately felt that he could have been cut “with a little more compassion” (Hughes, 2024), and I question why this young athlete is more focused on how he was cut verses the reasons he was cut? In my observation and opinion, Olson using Smith et al to claim emotional injury over something that is common among all incoming Power-Five, FCS, DII, and some DIII coaches does neither vindicates nor helps advance these young men professionally or personally. Furthermore, I would liken this article to searching out a bitter ex-girlfriend to discuss their experience with the person who ended their relationship.
Absolutely Deion Sanders Has a Right to Defend Himself…So Does His Sons!
With the platform provided by Max Olson, Xavier Smith was able to question Deion Sanders entire approach to coaching, and even questioned whether Sanders understood the importance of being a compassionate human being. Sanders’ son and starting quarterback for the Buffaloes, Shadeur, called out Smith as a “mid (major) at best” and that he (Shadeur Sanders) “don’t even remember him (Smith) to be honest” (Hulse, 2024). Ironically, but not surprisingly, the sports media world criticized both Deion and Shadeur Sanders for defending the elder Sanders from a bitter player who was cut from the program.
Fox Sports Radio host, Geoff Schwartz quickly reprimanded the younger Sanders for defending his father, and Schwartz believed “the story was basically out of the news cycle in 24 hours until the starting QB added his commentary (Hughes, 2024). Stephen A. Smith even offered a rebuke to both Shadeur and Shilo (Sanders) for reacting to Xavier Smith’s comments regarding their father in stating “it is important to understand how you’re communicating and coming across…they’re protective of their daddy, I get it…but someone needs to tell them that moving forward…how you communicate and how you come across matters” (Audilett, 2024).
For Geoff Schwartz et al, I would like to know why he believes Shadeur Sanders does not have the right to defend his father against a great mischaracterization from an athlete who never played for the elder Sanders. For Stephen A. Smith, I would like to know why is it only important to Shadeur and Shiloh Sanders on how they come across, and not Xavier Smith who aired a bitter grievance publicly against coach Sanders’ approach to cutting him?
Who Did the Most Damage to Xavier Smith?
I recall the movie Remember the Titans where coach Boone (played by Denzel Washington) benched his running back Petey for fumbling the football. His defensive coordinator Bill Yoast (played by Will Patton) felt sorry for Petey and gave the dejected running back a chance to play defense. Although Yoast felt his gesture was an act of compassion, coach Boone quickly reminded coach Yoast that its important to hold players accountable for their actions. In my opinion, Max Olson gave a pit platform to a young man (Xavier Smith) who clearly has failed to accept an important life lesson on getting through rejection. Similar to Yoast, I could believe that Olson wrote this piece as a gesture of empathy for Smith and the dozens of players cut by Sanders; however, I am partial to see Olson’s article as just another ‘hit piece’ attempting to delegitimize Sanders as an effective coach in the highest level of college football.
Not only is it unprecedented for a sportswriter to solicit players cut from a college program for interviews, I believe it is morally irresponsible to do so for the sake of intentionally or unintentionally impacting a program’s ability to effectively recruit top athletes. I do not recall ever reading a story on any player who was cut from the University of Georgia when Kirby Smart arrived to make them a championship contender in 2016 or any other high profile programs. Therefore, the question must be asked directly to Max Olson, why do a piece on Colorado’s ‘reject list’ and not the ‘reject list’ from other programs that are far more successful?
