The fallout of an article in The Athletic has caused a social media firestorm involving Shedeur Sanders and Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders. The article written by Max Olson entitled “What happened to Deion Sanders’ Colorado castoffs? Revisiting a record-setting exodus” details what occurrence of the 53 scholarship players who were ushered out of Colorado following Deion Sanders's arrival in Boulder and what they'd been up to since they left the program. A few of the players didn't have the most favorable things to say about Sanders and their dismissal from the team.

“We sat on the sofa, and he’s talking to us, but he’s not even looking at us. I’m looking Coach Kelly dead in his eyes. (Sanders) said he felt like I should hit the portal. He didn’t want me to waste a year thinking I could earn a spot…I was actually getting mad, like tears coming to my eyes. Because, bro, you never even tried to get to know me,” said former Buffaloes player Xavier Smith.

“He was destroying guys’ confidence and belief in themselves…The way he did it, it could’ve been done with a little more compassion,” he added.

The Athletic posted a tweet in promotion of the article highlighting the aforementioned quotes. Shedeur Sanders quoted the article, saying, “Ion even remember him tbh. Bro had to be very mid at best.”

After Shedeur's post, Colorado player Kaleb Mathis found himself in a back-and-forth with Austin Pey player Jahiem Ward. Ward and Mathis went back and forth and a Twitter/X user posted his stats from the previous season at Austin Pey. Deion Sanders saw the screenshot and tweeted, “Lawd Jesus”

Ward didn't back down, screenshotting Shilo Sanders 2023 stats at Colorado, saying, “Damm it’s crazy I got more pass deflections then your son”

Deion Sanders appeared to be in the mood to tweet today, even firing back at a critic saying that Shedeur Sanders wouldn't be taken top five in the 2025 NFL Draft.

“Tell yo son stop act like he the coldest out here then put up a 4-8 season,” Twitter/X user @PreTimeKB said.

Deion Sanders responded, “He will be a top 5 pick. Where yo son going ? Lololol I got time today. Lololol”

The post themselves drew ire from many people, particularly his comment about Ward's stats. Many detractors believed that Sanders wasn't behaving as a college head coach and purported “leader of men” would as he was openly criticizing a player on social media.

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“Head coach on Twitter talking down to college kids is so crazy bruh” posted @DepressedDETN.

“I'm old enough to remember when Prime was hired and everyone was screaming about the importance of playing for a black football coach because there was a level of care and humanity you get as a black player that you won't get from a white one,” posted @Natural_OneDurr.

“Deion looking like a great leader of men right now,” posted Emmy-award-winning sports media personality @CWilliamson44 sarcastically.

Meanwhile, CBS Sports College Football writer Shehan Jeyarajah highlighted Xaviers Smith's talent in lieu of Shedeur Sanders calling him “mid”.
“Notably, Xavier Smith went on to earn FCS Freshman All-American honors playing DB at Austin Peay while Colorado finished 127th nationally in passing defense and 98th in coverage grade. Even if he didn't start, hard to argue he wouldn't have provided quality depth as a freshman.”
News & Observer writer Andrew Carter responded to a tweet from Brian Howell that was critical of The Athletic article on the 53 Colorado transfers, saying, “The Athletic story was good journalism. This tweet, meanwhile, furthers the perception (fair or not) that outlets with the name of the team/school they purport to cover are nothing more than propaganda arms. This was a story (done well here) anyone covering CU should’ve done.
Although it's a far cry from the football season, the intrigue around Deion Snaders and Colorado football still presses on.