Deion Sanders Calls $50,000 Critic Offer a Joke as Colorado Sits 2-5

Deion Sanders said Tuesday that a claim he once offered critics $50,000 to stop mentioning his name was a joke.The claim came from Christopher Neely, known as Uncle Neely, an online content creator close to Sanders, on a roundtable internet show.As of Tuesday, Oct. 27, Colorado is 2-5 overall and last in the Big 12 at 0-4 after five straight losses, and it plays Kansas State on Saturday.A Clip, a Question and a Coach Who Says It Was a JokeDeion Sanders had a short answer when a question about paying his critics to stay quiet came up at his weekly news conference on Tuesday, Oct. 27. “That was a joke,” the Colorado coach told reporters.The question grew out of a clip of Christopher Neely, who goes by Uncle Neely. Neely said on a roundtable internet show that Sanders told some of his critics he would give them $50,000 to not mention his name for a year, and that no one had taken the deal yet. Sanders, in his fourth year as head coach in Boulder, rejected the idea that any real offer was made.The Claim and the DenialNeely, an online content creator who has been with Sanders from his Jackson State coaching days, made the claim on the program. “For the most part, the people that attack him wouldn’t be making the money they were making if he wasn’t here to attack,” Neely said. “Which is why he told some of them, ‘Hey man, let’s just do this. I give you $50,000 to not mention my name for a year.’ And ain’t nobody took the deal yet.”The $50,000 claim is Neely’s, and Sanders disputes it. Neely was in the room for Tuesday’s news conference and gave Sanders a quick background on the question before he answered. “Oh no, no, no! I think you misinterpreted that,” Sanders said. He then described what he says he actually said: “like some of y’all in here sitting right now, ‘I would love to give you money and not mention my name, and I want to see how far that goes.'” He added, “Some people live on your name.”Sanders also posted on social media Tuesday afternoon. “This is a lie but God bless u all,” he wrote. In the same post he wrote, “My son does my Videos and Neely is a friend.”Sanders Draws a Line Between a Joke and an OfferAt the news conference, Sanders separated the joke from any real payment. “I would never offer a man money. I don’t give a darn what you say about me,” he said. “That was really a joke about someone prospering off of your name and your brand.”He said he has faced criticism for most of his life, as a player and as a coach. He added that he is different and unapologetic about what he says and how he lives his life.Sanders, an NFL Hall of Famer, also reached back to his playing career to say he was never a talker. “I never talked on the field. I danced, I high-stepped,” he said.A Program With Little to ShowThe question landed on a coach whose team is losing. As of Tuesday, Oct. 27, Colorado is 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the Big 12, last in the 16-team conference on a five-game losing streak. The latest loss came at Oklahoma State on Saturday, Oct. 24. Colorado went 1-8 in Big 12 play last season.After that loss, Sanders said the team does everything right until it takes the field. “We’re so disciplined in this and that, and this and that, and every darn thing we do, but it seems like as soon as we go in the field, we’re not disciplined,” he said. He listed academics, being somewhere on time, wearing the proper uniform and manners in the building as areas where the program is disciplined. He said he does not understand it, and that the team blows it on the field at the most critical moments.Early in his time at Colorado, Sanders brought the spotlight back to a downtrodden program, and his son Shedeur, the quarterback, and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter helped engineer a 9-4 season that ended with a bowl trip. Sanders is now 18-26 overall in his fourth year at the school. Last year’s 3-9 finish set up expectations for improvement this season, and a 2-5 start has not met them.Saturday Brings Kansas StateColorado plays Kansas State on Saturday, Oct. 31. The Buffaloes carry a five-game losing streak and an 0-4 Big 12 record into that game. Sanders has said his program is disciplined in every area until the most critical moments on the field, and Saturday gives him the next chance to show otherwise.