A former Colorado Buffaloes player said he resents how head coach Deion Sanders presented himself and treated his team after being hired last year.
A recent report by Eric Olsen with the Associated Press highlighted several former Buffaloes players who were with Colorado during spring practice. Much publicity was made this year by the way Sanders told Buffaloes’ players returning from the 2022 team that Sanders intended to bring his players from Jackson State.
However, Olsen’s story details the true dark side of the first year of the Sanders era. Players who were let go after spring ball felt Sanders didn’t give them a fair chance to show their worth and thought Sanders only kept them on the team through the spring game so they could have a full squad for the sold-out Buffaloes crowd.
(50 players were cut after the spring game, and another 20 volunteered to leave.)
A former Colorado Buffaloes player has resentment toward Sanders
One offensive lineman, Luke Eckardt, was cut after the spring game. He said the players who transferred from Jackson State were nice, but he didn’t like how the coaching staff handled the transition this season. Eckardt’s parents also felt Sanders was deceitful to the players he kept for spring ball:
“I just couldn’t care less about the coaches, I guess.”
So he does feel resentment?
“Yeah,” he said. “All my resentment is just for the leadership and the coaches and all that. I don’t have any anger toward the team.”
Eckardt’s parents, Karl and Anne, said they were worried about their son’s fate at Colorado after watching the video of Sanders addressing the players on the first day.
Their reaction when Luke called home to say he was cut? “Total shock,” Anne said.
“He told them if you don’t want to work, then leave. If you’re going to put the work in, then put the work in,” she added. “There was nothing said about put the work in but at some point we’re probably going to get rid of you. It was a harsh message that first meeting. But it did not convey ‘work your fingers to the bone’ like all those kids did and then they’re just going to drop them after the spring game.”
Many college football fans have expressed outrage that the players in today’s game don’t have the same loyalty to a school that athletes once had. But Sanders’ treatment of the 2022 Buffaloes team proves why the transfer portal should be a lifeline for players disrespected by the current system.
Coaches and programs don’t have loyalty to players. Sanders threatened his current offensive line group this season.
It’ll be interesting to hear stories from players on the 2023 team when they leave the program.
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