Deion Sanders finally addressed why he isn’t in EA Sports College Football 27 as Colorado’s coach, and his explanation was as direct as it gets.
Speaking Tuesday at Big 12 Football Media Days, Sanders said he didn’t get into the weeds on the video game situation. Instead, he pointed to the people who manage his business and made it clear the issue came down to money and fit.
“I don't know about the video game,” Sanders said. “I have a wonderful team that handles a lot of business for me.
If I'm not in the game, that means they weren't paying enough. It didn't fit where we're going right now.
That's probably it. It was probably that simplistic.”
Sanders was one of seven coaches absent from the game when it launched on July 2. The list also included Bill Belichick at North Carolina, Mario Cristobal at Miami, Kirk Ferentz at Iowa, Bronco Mendenhall at Utah State, Blake Anderson at Southern Miss and Neal Brown at North Texas.
He has now sat out all three editions since the series returned in 2024. EA has not said publicly how much it pays coaches for NIL inclusion, but the company’s setup is the same across the board: a flat rate for every coach, with no room for higher-profile names to negotiate more. That left EA using a generic computer-generated coach in Sanders’ place.
Still, Sanders wasn’t entirely missing from the game.
In Road to Glory, players can build custom athletes and choose former college stars as the foundation for their attributes. Sanders appears there as a cornerback template, wearing the maroon and gold of Florida State.
That split presence - out as a coach, in as a player - only adds to the intrigue around his decision. Sanders has always been careful about his image, so the choice stands out even more.
There may also be another layer to it. Some of Sanders’ own players have had issues with how they were represented in the game, and linebacker Gideon ‘ESPN’ Lampron became the clearest example after objecting to his likeness.
EA’s college football titles don’t use 3D face scans the way some of its other games do, but the company still tries to build the closest possible version of each player. Even so, some look off, and Lampron’s portrayal drew particular attention after he took to X to complain.
For now, Sanders’ explanation is the only one on the record. And unless more detail comes out, the rest is still guesswork.
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Deion Sanders Brought Unexpected Emotion To Colorados Big 12 Spotlight
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Colorados coach spoke about honoring Dominique Ponder with jersey patches this season, then shifted to remembering longtime Buffaloes reporter Adam Munsterteiger, including a nod to his wife Liz from the stage. In a week built around branding, sponsorships and the leagues new Monster Energy deal, Sanders made sure the Buffaloes presence in Frisco was about more than publicity, leaving the larger message of the day rooted in people and memory as much as football. [Read more 🡒]