Desmond Howard cites Deion Sanders' mental health as reasoning for ban of Denver Post columnist

The Colorado Buffaloes football program recently made a statement and banned columnist Sean Keeler of The Denver Post from asking questions of head coach Deion Sanders or anyone else within the program.

That decision has proved to be fairly controversial but, as Desmond Howard reasoned during an appearance on Get Up, it’s also a decision that likely had to do with the mental health of Deion Sanders and the Colorado players moving forward.

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“When I first heard the story, the first thing that popped into my head was how we talk about protecting your mental health,” Deion Sanders said. “I don’t know if people realize that Deion Sanders is a human being who has spoken openly about trying to commit suicide before. So, when you have a person who is an advocate for mental health, who not only wants to protect his mental health but the number one job of a coach is to protect the mental health of his players too, because you always want to treat all of your players like they’re your sons.”

In the statement that Colorado sent to The Denver Post, the program accused Keeler of “a series of sustained, personal attacks on the football program and specifically Coach Prime.” That description and some of the language in Keeler’s columns is a major part of why Howard believes Sanders is within his right to not take questions from the columnist.

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“So, with that being said, if Deion Sanders believes that this guy who is using words like ‘false prophet’ and things of that nature, which they seem kind of personal to me, and they decide to not answer questions from him anymore,” Howard said. “I don’t have an issue with it because I think he has to do what he believes [is] best suited for his own mental health and the mental health of his players.”

There have also been plenty of people who have suggested that Colorado made the mistake of making the statement and could have just as easily stopped taking questions from the columnist without announcing it. However, Howard doesn’t believe that would have worked.

“So, the one thing I saw [Adam] Schefter say and I saw Stephen A. [Smith] say too, was that they shouldn’t have made an announcement, but it’s going to come out anyway because people are going to notice that you’re not taking this one individual’s questions. So, as opposed to deal with all of that down the road, maybe two or three weeks later when it’s been noticeable that you haven’t answered this one reporter’s questions, you can put it out there now so everybody knows,” Howard said.

“So, a month from now or you make the statement today, if you’re not gonna answer his questions, let him know, ‘We’re not gonna answer your questions because we need to protect our coach’s mental health and our players’ mental health and we don’t think you’re good for them in that situation.'”

Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes are getting ready to start their 2024 season Thursday August 29th against North Dakota State. This season, they’ll look to build on a 4-8 campaign in 2023.