If he wasn't already, ESPN college football reporter Paul Finebaum is now likely on the list of members of the media who are prohibited from talking with anyone affiliated with the Colorado football program or head coach Deion Sanders. After Sanders and the Colorado football program made the decision to ban Denver Post reporter Sean Keeler from reporting on the team after Keeler made comments critical of Coach Prime, Paul Finebaum lambasted the Buffaloes head coach during a Monday morning appearance on ESPN's Get Up, claiming, “Coach Prime is showing he is not ready for Prime Time.”

On the very same day, Deion Sanders made an appearance on Robert Griffin III's RG and The Ones and offered a response to Finebaum, once again proving that for as confident and positive as Sanders would like to project himself to be, any sliver of criticism is something he and his program aren't equipped to handle.

“He’s talking about us. How can we be irrelevant if you’re talking about us? Like, every time I turn around somebody’s sending me a quote that you’re talking about us. The thing about a fan, you’ve got to understand, a fan only blows when you’re hot. A fan only blows when you’re hot, so we must be hot.”

Hot in terms of recognition around the country? Absolutely! There's certainly no questioning Deion Sanders' ability to fire up a fan base and attract the eyeballs of football fans all around the country. But this is not a program that is hot when it comes to winning football games. For as much excitement as there was in Boulder last season, the Buffaloes ended the year with a 4-8 record, finishing last in the Pac-12 in the conference's final season.

Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders prior to the game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Mountain America Stadium, Home of the ASU Sun Devils.
© Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Deion Sanders, Colorado coming up on crucial 2024 season

Everyone was eager to celebrate Deion Sanders and the Colorado football program during the 2023 season, even as the Buffaloes dropped eight of their final nine games of the season. Coach Prime was even named Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson of the Year. But with another losing season in 2024, the tables will inevitably start to turn on Sanders even more so than they have already, because whether it's right or wrong, this program is being built on an identity of coolness and confidence and swagger, and the more people from the outside poke holes in this image, the harder it gets to maintain.

The issue here is, if the losses continue to pile up for Colorado, it will become more and more evident that Sanders' thin skin will ultimately be his downfall. He just can't let it go if someone on the outside of his program criticizes him or his program. Case in point: Deion Sanders didn't need to say a word about Paul Finebaum, and as we've learned throughout the last week, he only did because he likely cleared the question with Robert Griffin III ahead of time. He made the choice to criticize the man who he is admonishing for criticizing him, and he doesn't seem to realize the irony.

“I know what he’s doing and I’m proud of him that he’s smart enough to understand that this generation, and the thought process, and the way we communicate on sports is different. He’s a dying breed so what does he have to do to stay and keep up with this change? ‘Oh I’ve got to go find that big bad wolf and talk about him. So now I keep my relevancy.' I’m like that’s cool, but I’m not going to help you. I’m not going to even respond because that’s what you want. Yeah you just want me to respond, uhh uhh, I don’t do that, I’m not going to help you come up.”

Deion did respond though. And until he bans every critical reporter out there from saying a word about him, he's going to keep responding until nobody cares enough to be critical anymore.