College Football HQ

Deion Sanders, son blast ex-player, critics on social media

Coach Prime and his son, Shedeur, caught some attention online with comments aimed at critics of the Colorado football team

James Parks

Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders with son, quarterback Shedeur, during a college football game.
Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders with son, quarterback Shedeur, during a college football game. / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Colorado football coach Deion Sanders has never been shy about mixing it up with his critics, and the same goes for his son, Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders. And both had a chance to defend their program from critics recently, including from one former CU player.

The Athletic had recently published a piece recounting the experience of former Colorado players who left the team prior to Sanders' debut season.

One of those quotes came from former defensive back Xavier Smith, who told The Athletic that Coach Prime "never tried to get to know" him and recommended he enter the transfer portal.

Shedeur saw that and responded on X/Twitter, saying: "Ion even remember him tbh," referring to Smith, adding "Bro had to be very mid at best," in a post viewed more than 17 million times.

That post drew some criticism from fans, including one who knocked the quarterback, causing Prime to swoop in, posting: "He will be a top 5 pick. Where yo son going? Lololol I got time today. Lololol." That post was viewed over 14 million times on the site.

Then there was some more back-and-forth trash talk involving players and then Deion.

Colorado wideout Kaleb Mathis responded to Shedeur's comment by posting a video that appeared to show him beating Smith in a practice.

That, in turn, inspired a reply from Jaheim Ward, a one-time teammate of Smith, who replied to Mathis by saying: "Bruh you had 38 yards last year stop trying to down play somebody."

Then, another user posted a screenshot of Ward's stats from last season, showing 20 total tackles and four pass breakups. To which Deion replied: "Lawd Jesus."

Ward clapped back with a response to Prime with a screenshot of his own, this one showing the production of Buffs defender Shilo Sanders, the coach's other son on the team.

"Damm it's crazy I got more pass deflections then [sic] your son," Ward said.

Just another day on X, or Twitter, or whatever you prefer to call it.

Now, Coach Prime, Shedeur, Shilo, and everybody else at Colorado heads back to work of rebounding from the team's 4-8 season a year ago. To that end, the Buffaloes oversaw another round of intense transfer portal movement, with over 40 players leaving and 35 coming in from other schools.

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James Parks
JAMES PARKS

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He previously covered football for 247Sports and CBS Interactive. College Football HQ joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022.