“Why Are You in Their Pockets in College?”: Deion Sanders Argues Why Agents Shouldn’t Charge College Athletes

Pro football royalty Deion ‘Prime Time’ Sanders is not just on a mission to turn things around for the Colorado Buffaloes. He spends a lot of time shaping the future of football by teaching aspiring athletes how to improve and succeed. He shared a glimpse of this during a recent conversation with Robert Griffin III, where he advocated for agents not taking a big chunk of payouts from college athletes.

During the conversation, Sanders shared his discontent with agents exploiting young college athletes, arguing that they use their relationship with the parents and sign athletes without delivering anything useful to college players.

For the Buffaloes head coach, this shouldn’t be the case. He firmly believes that these agents should wait until the players go pro, essentially proving their faith in these prospects by sticking to their word.

Sanders was quoted as saying:

“Agents shouldn’t even charge these young men while they’re in college. If you believe in them that much won’t you wait till they get it and get to Pros. Why are you in their pockets in college?”

Sanders also argued that these agents always scoot after getting their cut, but never assist their clients with filing taxes, which later becomes a burden for the player:

“They[agents] got you a little deal little NIL now he’s getting a percentage off of it and he didn’t even tell you to pay your taxes so he’s gone with his 20% Which is crazy he’s gone with that and you keeping your 80 but nobody paid taxes on nothing. That’s a problem.”

Sanders subsequently delved deep into how athletes end up broke despite making millions during their college/pro careers as a result of bad decisions, with agents playing a huge part in it.

This is exactly why the head man is not just training the guys on the field, but assisting them in achieving a better future by giving them tools that can financially help them flourish. And this is where his master class in finance comes in, that he runs for his team, and it sure seems necessary, especially in the age of million-dollar NIL deals.

Sanders advises parents to ‘back off’

During the same conversation, the Buffaloes head coach shared stories about people he grew up with who couldn’t manage their newly earned wealth and ended up in worse situations. Surprisingly, the culprits behind these failed careers were often the parents.

Sanders believes that in the current age of massive college NIL deals, many parents push their kids too much and it has a huge negative impact on the athletes. And it’s important to let the young athletes go at their own pace.

The external pressure from parents and agents can overwhelm these youngsters. The weight of expectations, along with the financial burden of trying to please friends and family, often contributes to young athletes going bankrupt.

That being said, only time will tell if Sanders can turn the tide and lead Colorado to a national championship. While that can’t be said for certain, one thing is for sure: he will undoubtedly change the lives of every young athlete who comes under his wing.