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Deion Sanders has responded to a viral social media post from Colorado running back Kavosiey Smoke. The message came after the Buffs’ blowout loss against Washington State.
Smoke was critical of team’s performance, calling out teammates for playing selfish football.
“Simple fact bru, we could’ve been undefeated this year,” Smoke wrote. “Too much selfish ball going on, man. Can’t win like that. Gotta play and win as a team, but if you go the other route, you get results like this.”
That result was a 56-14 shellacking at the hands of the Cougars.
It was maybe the worst performance of the season for the Buffs, who fell behind 56-7 before adding a late score. Colorado was beaten soundly in every phase of the game, allowing touchdowns on offense, defense, and special teams.
Smoke was obviously frustrated by loss, and he let his feelings be known online.
Many immediately ran with the comments, sparking narratives of a locker room issue. Coach Prime responded to the post Tuesday, spinning it as a positive.
Deion Sanders responds to Kavosiey Smoke post.
When asked about Smoke’s comments in his weekly press conference, Sanders focused on the passion of his frustrated player. He says the team sat down and aired out their issues after the fact.
“I like that comment,” Coach Prime said. “I think that’s a great comment. I’d just like to quantify it. What does that mean? That’s the question I asked the team today.”
Sanders wouldn’t expand on his players’ thoughts about the remark, but he refused to take the situation as a negative.
“I love Smoke, man… I’m upset that we didn’t live up to the expectations that he had for us… I’m 100 with Smoke. He said what he felt, and he felt what he said. I have no problem with guys doing that, as long as it’s justified. That wasn’t an attack on us, that was truth.”
What Smoke meant by “selfish ball” is still unclear. Was he calling out work ethic, stat padding, game study, or a combination of the three?
Whatever the definition, Smoke didn’t seem to mean it as a slight to any player individually.
yall trying to make something bigger than what it is😒be forgetting this yall job https://t.co/S2rb8J4sgd
— Kavosiey Smoke (@_KS20_) November 18, 2023
Kavosiey Smoke had high hopes for the Buffs, as did Deion Sanders, but it’s been a frustrating stretch for Colorado following a 3-0 start. At 4-7, a bowl game is out of the picture, but there’s still an opportunity to finish strong with a win over Utah.