Deion Sanders responds to Jay Norvell saying, "I'm a grown man" and "not going to change who I am"

Coach Prime is about to let the scoreboard tell the story on Saturday

Josh Tolle | Sep 14, 2023

In this story:

Deion Sanders is taking this Rocky Mountain Showdown with CSU very personal. It started out friendly with both Coach Prime and Jay Norvell exchanging pleasantries, but the gloves have started to come off.

Norvell took a wild shot at Sanders on Wednesday night saying, "I don't care if they hear it in Boulder. I told them, I took my hat off and I took my glasses off. I said when I talk to grown ups, I take my hat off and my glasses off. That's what my mother taught me. (Colorado's) not going to like us no matter what we say or do."

Sanders sat down with Mark Johnson for this weekly show on Thursday and held back from saying what he really wanted to say. The longtime voice of the Buffs joined in by breaking out shades and his signature cowboy hat. He asked Coach Prime if he liked it. Sanders asked if that was truly who Johnson was trying to be.

"I'm not going to get in front of you and change who I am just because you're here," Sanders added. "I don't do that. I'm consistent with who I am." He went on to say, "I'm a grown man. I'm supposed to wear what I'm not supposed to wear."

The 18th-ranked Buffaloes welcome the Rams into Folsom Field on Saturday night. It's the latest edition of The Rocky Mountain Showdown at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Published Sep 14, 2023

JOSH TOLLE

Josh Tolle is a writer covering college sports for On SI. Outside of storytelling, the multi-talented broadcaster has play-by-play experience at the professional and collegiate levels. In 2018, he began calling games for the National Women’s Soccer League. He has also called games for the United Soccer League, Concacaf, and the U.S. Open Cup. He has called hockey for the Premier Hockey Federation for the past three seasons and was the play-by-play voice for the Superior RoughRiders of the Western Hockey League. He has provided play-by-play for various other sports including football, basketball, baseball and volleyball events. Since 2015, Tolle has been the voice of Colorado School of Mines Athletics having called football, men's and women's basketball and soccer. He previously wrote for SB Nation.