Woah! The online showdown is officially on, even though there is still time for the Big 12 battle to kick in. All thanks to ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum for dropping his “irrelevant” remark on Deion Sanders’ Colorado. And how could Coach Prime’s ‘speaking piece’ Uncle Neely not mind someone raining on Deion’s parade? On July 19, Uncle Neely made an appearance on the BiggDoggChico podcast. While he’s cool with Finebaum sprinkling his opinions, all that Neely raised his concern was the analyst going off the fact rails. Deion’s supporter pinpointed every angle as to why the Buffs stand a strong chance in the playoff. Coach Prime, too, threw a shade at Finebaum without taking his name. 

Whenever Deion Sanders finds himself in choppy water, Uncle Neely is the first one who tries to keep the coach afloat.  On July 15, the ESPN analyst attacked Deion Sanders’ Colorado without pulling Coach Prime down, “Deion Sanders is. He’s a standalone person … he’s one of the most charismatic people we’ve ever seen. But Colorado is nothing. They don’t matter. They’re irrelevant in the big picture.” This did not sit well with Uncle Neely who walked on Finebaum’s path. Instead of completely lashing out at the analyst he took the middle path. On the podcast, Neely cleared himself out, “First I say this everybody is entitled you know to their opinion you have the right to express your opinion but what you’re not entitled to is your own facts, you can’t make up.”

To him, Finebaum’s facts do not even stand a chance now that Deion’s Colorado has hit the rebound button. But he just did not let his statement hang in the air as he came up with some solid pointers. The game-changer is going to be their treasure piece, “one of if not the best quarterback in college football”. No brownie points for guessing, of course, it has to be Shedeur. The Buffs QB will be backed by the absolute phenom, two-way star, Travis Hunter. After all these solid points Neely hinted at Finebaum dropping a comment, “How that equals Irrelevant in the big scheme of things I don’t know how you reach that conclusion.” While Uncle Neely was rooting for Deion, Coach Prime was out there being his own hype man. 

Deion’s single-minded focus to rewrite the 4-8 narrative tossing aside criticism  

Deion Sanders is too caught up in his own whirlwind to mind the critics. He is propelled by only one mantra, “WIN” to flip the 4-8 narrative of the 2023 season. The Buffs HC every now and then comes up with a new scheme. Making the most out of the transfer portal to allow  Shedeur to mark himself safe with the best O-line, and adopting new techniques to oomph up the Buffs’ physical and mental strengths, Deion did it all by himself. But after all the hustle, Deion couldn’t crack Finebaum’s tough shell. 

The ESPN analyst’s caustic prediction, “Deion Sanders is ever going to get them [Buffs] to the playoffs..” seems to nudge Coach Prime a little. Instead of directly taking Finebaum’s name, all that the Buffs HC did was come up with three categories of individuals. 

On X, Deion shared his thoughts, “Some of us talk about doing things & never do it. Some of us talk about those who actually do things. Lastly, there are some that just do their thang & ain’t influenced by either. Where do u stand? Your clock it ticking & life ain’t waiting on u. Do Something!” Finebaum is clever enough to pick up the hints.