Paul Finebaum, Stephen A. Smith get into heated debate over Deion Sanders’ latest attack on media
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders grabbed some headlines on the podium once again this week. Going in-depth about the undeserved scrutiny he feels some of his players have received from the media when speaking about two-way star Travis Hunter.
College football analyst Paul Finebaum made it clear he disagreed with Sanders’ statement during Wednesday’s episode of ESPN’s First Take. Accusing the Buffaloes head coach of ‘gaslighting’ and calling his attack on the media ‘entirely spineless’. A statement that First Take host Stephen A. Smith disagreed with as the two debated the topic.
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“I’m going to respectfully disagree,” Smith said to Finebaum. “I think it’s a bit extreme for you to say that he was gaslighting, I don’t think that’s true. There are some points that you have made that are damn right accurate, and I will get to that in a second. But when you listen to what Deion said, he said some of y’all. He didn’t say everybody. There’s always some of us that get a bit personal, there’s always some of us, there’s bad apples in every industry… He didn’t say everybody, he said some, I think he’s accurate about that.”
Sanders has brought an unprecedented amount of media attention to Colorado football since becoming the head coach ahead of the 2023 season. A double-edged sword that’s come with positive press and critiques from the media. Highlighted by Sanders and the Colorado program banning Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler from asking Sanders questions at press conferences after deeming his reporting as ‘sustained, personal attacks on the football program’ and specifically their head coach.
“They’re not getting criticized,” Finebaum said regarding Colorado’s players. “The guy at the Denver Post, Sean Keeler, went after Deion. He never went after a player and unless Deion Sanders or you Stephen A. Smith can come up and tell me what player specifically he has gone after, I’m going to continue on with what I’m saying. I am really shocked by you trying to split the baby here Stephen A., I mean you know better, Deion Sanders is completely wrong here.”
Finebaum also accused Smith of being subservient to Sanders, refusing to give Coach Prime the benefit of the doubt for comments that he believes are untrue.
“You can’t knock me for quoting the man and accuse me of being subservient because I’m taking him based off of what he actually said and I’m deducing what it means from the words coming out of his mouth,” Smith said. “You do that every day.”
“You choose not to give him the benefit of the doubt, I choose to give him the benefit of the doubt because I’m quoting him, I’m quoting him,” Smith repeated. “Now you can deduce from his quotes that you don’t believe a damn word he’s saying … You’re the same Paul Finebaum that’s come over the airways last year and this year talking about how people were rooting for him to fail. So if they were rooting for him to fail, which is something that you conceded last year, right? Chances are that the level of venom, vitriol, criticism coming in this direction only, only intensified, right?”
Finebaum took one last jab at Smith on the way out of his debate. Making a reference to First Take hitting the road on Friday for a live show at Howard University, the first stop on the ‘First Take on the Road’ series dedicated to highlighting HBCUs.
“Stephen A. when you go to your alma mater on Friday, you might want to take your degree back,” Finebaum said. “I’ve always had great respect for you as a journalist, and I still do, but you’re going to some unbelievable length, breaking your back, trying to make a case for Deion Sanders. Who just threw that out there without a single specific.”
Smith clarified that he actually graduated from Winston Salem State, a shot that Finebaum took and missed. Also noting that he is not giving Sanders a complete pass for his comments, but that criticism coming from toward his players from the media isn’t hard to believe. As Colorado’s relationship with the media will continue to be fascinating to track this football season.
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