Colorado head coach Deion Sanders has dismissed a claim by a longtime associate that he offered critics up to $50,000 to stop speaking about him, calling the remark a joke that was misinterpreted. Sanders addressed the comments Tuesday during his weekly news conference, where reporters asked him about the allegation.
The claim came from Christopher Neely, a YouTube content creator who goes by "Uncle Neely." In a video from an online roundtable program, Neely said the people who attack Sanders would not be earning the money they make if he were not there to attack. He then said Sanders had told some of them, "Hey man, let's just do this. I give you $50,000 to not mention my name for a year." According to Neely, no one had taken the deal yet. Neely was in the room for the news conference and quickly explained the comments to Sanders after the question was raised.
Sanders said the reporters had misread the remark. "Oh no, no, no! I think you misinterpreted that," he said. He described it as a hypothetical joke about people who gain from someone else's name, saying he had told people in the room that he would like to give them money not to mention his name and see how far that went. "Some people live on your name," he added. "That was really a joke about someone prospering off of your name and your brand," Sanders said. "I would never offer a man money. I don't give a darn what you say about me."
Sanders also said criticism was nothing new to him. He said he had faced it during his NFL playing days, and that it carried over into his coaching career. He said it was not in his heart to dislike anyone in the room, adding that he may not like some things people do or say but does not know them well enough to form an opinion of them. "This is normalcy because I'm just different," he said. "I'm unapologetic about things I say and how I live my life."
Sanders is in his fourth season at Colorado, having taken over after a successful run at Jackson State. The Pro Football Hall of Famer quickly raised the program's profile, winning nine games and leading the Buffaloes to a bowl appearance in his second season. Colorado finished the 2025 season with a 3-9 record. The team started 2-0 this season but has lost its last five games, and the Buffaloes face Kansas State on Saturday.