Colorado has banned Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler from asking questions of football coach Deion Sanders or other members of the football program, the school confirmed Friday.
“Following a series of consistent, personal attacks against the football program and specifically Coach Prime, the CU Athletics Department, in conjunction with the football program, has decided to no longer accept questions from Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler at football-related events,” the athletics department said in a statement provided to ESPN. “Keeler is still permitted to attend football-related activities as an accredited member of the media and other Denver Post journalists are permitted to ask questions of football program personnel who make themselves available to the media, including coaches, players and staff.”
According to the Post, a member of the CU athletics department's media relations staff told the paper he took issue with Keeler's references to Sanders as “Deion of the statement,” the “Bruce Lee of bullshit,” a “false prophet” and his use of phrases like “Planet Prime,” “Deion's Kool-Aid” and “circus.” The ban is indefinite, according to the Post.
The decision comes two weeks after a press conference in which Sanders accused Keeler of “always being on the attack” and asked her: “What happened to make you like that?”
Sanders added: “No, I'm serious. I want to help because it's not normal.”
During the exchange, Keeler asked several times if he could ask him a question about football and Sanders declined before moving on to a reporter who asked him about his birthday plans. The reporter who was before Keeler at the press conference asked Sanders, “How important is it for everyone to have Aflac as part of their life?” (Sanders is a paid spokesman for the insurance company.)
In his post-press conference column, Keeler described Sanders as “a self-assured man who suddenly looked, acted and sounded… scared.”
According to the Post, Sanders has unique language in his contract that says he is obligated to speak only to “mutually agreed-upon media outlets.”
In a social media post, Denver Post sports editor Matt Schubert said: “It is within everyone's right not to answer questions from… [Denver Post sports reporters and columnists]However, the reasons CU gives here are entirely subjective. It would be more accurate to say: “We don't like Sean Keeler's criticism of our program.”
When the Post asked for clarification, a member of Colorado's sports information staff told the paper that “Keeler had not violated any specific media policies.”
Sanders has a history as a coach of using his influence to prohibit reporters from asking questions about his program. In 2021, a reporter from Mississippi’s Clarion Ledger was banned from covering Jackson State University, where Sanders was a coach, at the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s media day, a day after the Clarion Ledger published a story related to a court filing about an incoming recruit who had been accused of assaulting a woman.
Sanders' second season as Colorado's head coach begins Thursday against North Dakota State (8 p.m. ET, ESPN). The Buffaloes went 4-8 last season and finished in last place in the Pac-12.
