ESPN News Services3 minutes to read
Coach Prime is angry at the Colorado players for not fighting
Colorado coach Deion Sanders leans in on his players for staying away from a scrimmage at the team’s practice.
Boulder, Colorado. – Most soccer coaches preach about players staying cool on those August days when the temperatures are hot and the gangs are blazing.
No Deion Sanders.
A brief scuffle followed after Anthony Hankerson’s touchdown in the middle of goal-line practice when Jaden Milliner-Jones grabbed his jersey and threw him to the ground well after he scored.
Formidable offensive tackle Gerrad Christian Lichtenhan, who weighs in at 310 pounds in his 6-foot-10 frame, didn’t appreciate late-play aggression and told Milliner-Jones that.
Much shoving, shoving, and yelling ensued as several teammates joined in, though many appeared to be simply trying to keep the peace. Some helpers ran into the battle and separated the players in the middle of the fight.
Moments later, as the offense came together, Coach Prime stepped in and told his players he wasn’t happy with what he had just seen.
“I saw the two of you walking up there, and you had a major teammate fighting,” Sanders grumbled. “Where do they do that? Where do they do that?”
His players responded not here.
“If one of us fights, we all fight,” Sanders said angrily. “You get that? I don’t want to see you all walk away when someone’s fighting. Never again!”
a Video to practice on Tuesday Posted by Sanders’ son, Deion Sanders Jr., he shows the fight and the elder Sanders addresses his team at the 29:15 mark.
The Buffaloes are coming off a 1-11 disaster but are back in the spotlight heading into the 2023 college football season thanks to the arrival of Sanders and the dozens of talented transfers that followed him to Boulder.
The Sanders era begins on Sept. 2 when the University of California’s Collectors Open. They host longtime rival Nebraska the following week at Folsom Field, with a sold out spring game, featuring a Blizzard, broadcast by ESPN.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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