Colorado’s week of preparation for Baylor has been pushed into the spotlight for reasons far bigger than the matchup itself. On Tuesday, Deion Sanders said he dismissed an undisclosed number of players after Colorado’s 41-7 loss to Northwestern in Week 3, and he made clear he did not want the move framed as a broader team problem.
Speaking on the Colorado Football Coaches Show, Sanders pushed back on the idea that the Buffaloes had a locker-room-wide issue. He said the players involved were a small group and stressed that they were not going to drag the rest of the team down with them.
“We’ve got some great kids,” Sanders said. “People made a big deal out of last week and us getting rid of a few kids, but it wasn’t a team thing.
It was just a few knuckleheads. In every occupation we have, there are a few knuckleheads.
So don’t think it was the team; no, it was a few knuckleheads who I didn’t want to poison the team…My kids know me; they know I give seconds and thirds, sometimes fourths, but when it gets to about that fifth, you’ve got to go.”
Sanders also said the dismissals were not tied to one isolated moment in the Northwestern game. Instead, he described the situation as a pattern of behavior that crossed the line.
“No, it's never one [incident],” Sanders said. “Those guys could tell you I'm the most loving and giving and forgiving man you could ever meet.
But when you start having conduct detrimental to the team, that will set us back in things that you're doing; you don't care about the team. You care about you.
I have a problem with that. And a year ago, I didn't put my foot down in it enough.
You know, it lingered a little bit. Then it imploded.
I'm not doing that. I'm not doing that anymore.”
The fallout has already drawn plenty of attention around Colorado. A viral video showing Buffs linebacker Tyler Martinez and safety Ben Finneseth taking shots at the Wildcats’ makeshift stadium added to the noise after the loss, and the player dismissals only intensified the scrutiny.
Colorado later stepped in to clarify that the roster changes are not finished yet, which is why the players involved have not been identified.
“Any potential roster changes have not been finalized. An updated roster will be released later in the week,” said Colorado in a statement to On3’s Pete Nakos on Tuesday.
For now, those changes are expected to stay under wraps until Colorado faces Baylor.
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On resale platforms, seats for the game have been spotted as low as $16, a number that stands out for a conference opener with postseason stakes already starting to take shape. Baylor also expects quarterback DJ Lagway back from injury, which gives the Bears a boost on the field, but the flat pricing chatter has given the week a different kind of attention than the program probably wanted heading into Big 12 play. [Read more 🡒]