Deion Sanders Rips NCAA Over Mental Health After Colorado's Tyler Brown Denied Waiver

Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders didn't hold back when discussing the NCAA's handling of mental health issues after offensive lineman Tyler Brown was denied immediate eligibility following his transfer from Jackson State.

"Do you really care (about mental health), or are you saying you care? Are you caring when it's convenient?" Sanders said in a Tuesday press conference, per The Athletic's David Ubben. "Or when it's profitable?"

He added: "It don't make sense. Some things just don't make sense. You say you really care about mental health but when you have someone really dealing with mental health, there's a problem. And then ostracizing him in not allowing him to do what he's blessed and gifted to do and the thing that presents him peace, that's trying for a young man."

Brown was denied immediate eligibility due to the two-transfer rule.

The NCAA voted in January to restrict the number of waivers given out to second-time transfers in an effort to prevent players from returning to a booming portal. A second-time transfer can "receive immediate eligibility if they have a physical injury or mental health condition that pushed them to transfer from a school."

In a video Brown uploaded to YouTube on Friday, he detailed his struggles with depression and anxiety, in addition to his relationship with former Louisiana offensive line coach D.J. Looney, who died of a heart attack in front of Brown and his teammates in 2020.

"That hurts me to this day. That's the day I lost my father figure, my first father figure," Brown said in the video. "I can still see him fall to the ground and see the nothingness in his eyes."

"Get that video and watch it and tell me how you can say no to his kid. Unbelievable, isn't it?" Sanders said.

Brown began his college football career at Louisiana in 2019 before transferring to Jackson State last season, where he earned First-team All-SWAC honors in 2022 under Sanders. He was expected to be a starter on Colorado's offensive line this season if granted eligibility.

Now that Brown has been declared ineligible for 2023, he won't hit the field with the Buffaloes until 2024.

Colorado opens the 2023 season on Saturday against TCU.