Talks about Deion Sanders’ conference drama with CBS are still on! In his recent press conference on August 9, he slammed a couple of reporters by evading their questions – Eric Christensen of CBS and Sean Keeler of the Denver Post. However, the former gained much attention, leading to diverse opinions on why Deion Sanders would do something like that. 

When CBS reporter Christensen introduced himself, Deion Sanders immediately cut him off, saying, “I’m not doing nothing with CBS. Next question.” Despite Christensen identifying himself as a local resident, the Buffs HC remained adamant, saying, “You are who you are. CBS is CBS… What they did was foul.” This mysterious snub has led many people to assume the reason behind it. Like many others who voiced their opinions on what could have triggered Deion Sanders’ animosity with CBS, Stephen A. Smith also made an interesting proposal. 

In a new YouTube episode by Stephen A. Smith on August 16, he offered his opinion on what might have caused Deion Sanders to snub CBS. He recounted the time dating back to his days from 2002 to 2004 when Deion Sanders was working as an NFL analyst on CBS alongside Dan Marino, who was getting paid more than him. According to Smith, “Deion Sanders was obviously somebody that ended up having a contractual dispute with CBS at the time because he wanted to be the highest paid analyst. Because of that, I’m here thinking that must be the reason.”

Deion Sanders had a project with CBS that went awry. Coming in as a legendary two-sport player and one of the greatest CBs of all time, he worked as a commentator for The NFL Today for three years, which eventually saw him demanding a pay raise. However, his contract negotiation to be the highest-paid NFL TV analyst didn’t work out according to his plans. This has led some people to believe that Deion Sanders still holds a grudge against CBS for this. Still, it’s just an assumption of what might have caused the reason behind the snub, just like a myriad of opinions that broke out following the conference fiasco.

Assumptions on why Deion Sanders snubbed CBS

Some people thought it was because CBS reported Shilo Sanders’ bankruptcy filing. Some others thought it was because the broadcaster ranked him as the second-worst head coach in the Big 12, and another post where he was labeled as an entertainer more than a coach. But On3’s Phillip Dukes feels there’s more to the beef than this. Like Smith, he thinks the hate stems from a canceled project from his time working with CBS. He said, “If you wanna know why Deion Sanders reacted the way he did, there was an abuse of trust between the two.”

Following this report, Deion Sanders reshared Dukes’ video on X with the caption, “Thank u my brother for keeping some things unspoken. We love it when they A*Sume. Lolololol The insanity is better than Sanford & Son at times.” Assumptions can be dangerous because some can alter the whole narrative. However, with Deion Sanders mysteriously snubbing one of the leading sports media outlets, assumptions are inevitable.