Colorado's Deion Sanders Talks Criticism: 'I'm Not a Hateful Guy. I Come with Love'

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders said he's "not built to hate" as he and the school face questions for its approach to one local reporter who has been particularly critical of Coach Prime.

"I'm not a hateful guy," Sanders told reporters Saturday. "I come with love. I think if anybody in here has had encounters with me, I don't come with the bulljunk. I come with the peace and the joy. Now when you show me where you stand, I might have to change that a little bit, so I'm not going to match your ignorance."

The comments come after Colorado informed the Denver Post it would no longer allow one of its columnists, Sean Keeler, query Sanders or other school officials in public settings.

"After a series of sustained, personal attacks on the football program and specifically Coach Prime, the CU Athletic Department in conjunction with the football program, have decided not to take questions from Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler at football-related events," the school said, per the Post's Matt Schubert.

Colorado didn't take away Keeler's credential altogether.

Jackson State adopted a similar tactic when Sanders worked there, preventing a Clarion Ledger reporter from interviewing Tigers players and coaches at SWAC media day in 2021.

Keeler isn't the only member of the media to draw Sanders' ire this offseason. Earlier this month, he refused to answer a question from a reporter at a local CBS affiliate, citing an unspecified issue with a different journalist from CBS Sports.

The Athletic's David Ubben noted Sanders' contract specifies he speak with "mutually agreed upon media," language that isn't included in the contracts for any other Colorado coach or for Sanders' predecessor, Karl Dorrell.

Colorado opens the season Thursday at home to North Dakota State. The Buffaloes are already garnering plenty of attention ahead of Coach Prime's second year in Boulder, and his approach to the media will only add to the scrutiny.