Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders has been verbally attacked by the opposition coach for two weeks.
“Three weeks in a row,” Sanders told USA TODAY Sports on Monday. We’re not counting.” Three weeks in a row, if you count Nebraska coach Matt Rhule's deeds or comments.
But why? The Buffaloes (3-1) meet No. 6 Southern California (4-0) at home on Saturday, so these coaches don't need to criticise Sanders to drive their squads.
Sanders and his players say it motivated them before and after beating Colorado State and Nebraska, respectively.“I wonder why that is,” a correspondent asked him on Zoom Monday.
Sanders answered, “You know why that is. Simply say it. Try not to force me to say it. Just say it, man. Some of you have to have balls to express what it is.
You cannot make me say it. I'm not built that way.”Sanders spoke to USA TODAY Sports on Monday morning, when his team was off from practice but he still had work to do, especially for his insurance sponsor Aflac.
This season, Aflac's repeated ads starring Sanders and Alabama coach Nick Saban have increased Sanders' TV exposure. His firm contract mandates him to conduct a specific number of interviews like this, in which he explained why he never responds to opposition coaches.“
Even when I played, everybody thought I talked,” recalled Pro Football Hall of Famer Sanders. “I never criticised opponents. I had fun with the journalists and chatted about myself. I never mentioned my rival. No clip of me criticising my opponent exists. Not believing that. I don't support that.”