Reporter Banned by Deion Sanders Describes Culture of ‘Fear’ Colorado Coach Is Cultivating: He’s ‘Starting to Lash Out’

The Denver Post reporter Sean Keeler believes Deion Sanders has created a culture of fear within the University of Colorado’s football program.

Last week, the university announced that the team would not be taking questions from Keeler during press conferences, citing personal attacks against Sanders in his previous reporting. Some at ESPN, including college football analyst Paul Finebaum, have criticized both Sanders and the university for the move.

On Tuesday, Keeler appeared on Unsportsmanlike and described the feeling of the team behind the scenes.

“It’s fear all around,” he told ESPN’s Courtney Cronin. “And it’s fear of people who are on the academic side, and know better, and [are] committed to this. I think — and I wrote this, I think, 10 days ago or whatever it was when [Sanders and I] had the testy exchange at CU’s fall media day — that Deion is starting to lash out at people, which strikes me as a sign of fear that something good may not be coming on the football side. I don’t expect that. They’ve got guys. Man, do they have got guys… There are guys.

“But, I think if I were a [Buffaloes] fan — and this is the part that everyone’s kind of suppressing here locally… But ‘fear’ is the four-letter word I keep coming back to, and it’s everywhere. I think players are afraid. I think coaches are afraid because they saw what happened to the first-year staff. I think media are afraid, and I think Colorado administrators are afraid. And if they win, it will all be justified; and if they don’t, grab your popcorn.”

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