Why Did the Deion Sanders-CBS Relationship Go Sour in 2004?

Deion Sanders has reignited his beef with CBS. During his press conference, the Colorado HC was asked a question by a CBS reporter, but he swiftly dismissed the inquiry with, “I’m not doing anything with CBS. Next question.” 

Interestingly, the coach has a history with CBS. He previously worked with the broadcaster as a commentator from 2002 to 2004. And that’s when things started to sour between Sanders and CBS. 

According to the statement given by the broadcaster, things reportedly broke down between Sanders and the company during contract negotiations in 2004. Coach Prime wanted to double his $1 Million salary. However, the network refused the demand, and the two parted ways.

Before the fallout, Sanders worked as a studio analyst with Dan Marino, Boomer Esiason, and Jim Nantz. This was when the former cornerback retired for three seasons after his brief stint with the Redskins before returning to the field for two more years in 2004 with the Ravens.  

After the 2004 fallout, Sanders was briefly on the network following his second retirement when NFL Network and CBS joined hands for Thursday Night Football. 

When the reporter clarified that he was a local reporter and not a national reporter, Sanders said something interesting that piqued everyone’s curiosity:

“CBS is CBS. It ain’t got nothing to do with you. I respect you…I got love for you, but what they did was foul.”

Amidst the drama and speculation on what the “foul” was, veteran analyst Stephen A. Smith explained the “real reason” why Sanders has such a problem with CBS. 

The real reason behind the Sanders-CBS beef

Over the years, there have been many rumors about the reason behind the animosity between the coach and the company. Earlier, there were also reports that the Buffaloes’ head coach was unhappy over a coaching ranking by CBS, which placed him near the bottom of the Big 12, with a lowly 15th position. 

However, Smith denied all such reports, claiming to have insider knowledge about the real reason behind Sanders’ hatred. Sanders was apparently incensed by something unfair that happened to his colleague at the time. The analyst revealed on the Stephen A. Smith Show:

“A reporter, who happened to be a brother, had a story that they were working on, and the story was about to come out. And when the information was accumulated, the brother was taken off the story, according to people close to Deion Sanders.”

Meanwhile, the story was then handed over to a reporter, who was white. This, according to the analyst, did not sit well with Coach Prime and he decided to part ways with the company.