What makes Deion Sanders stand out from other CFB head coaches is his emphasis on preparing players for the game of life. In the age of NIL, fame and money aren’t hard to come by, but not everyone is equipped to navigate the pitfalls that come with them. This is exactly why Prime, in 2021, invited social media influencer Brittany Renner to speak to Jackson State players.
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Sanders later told Shannon Sharpe that he saw Renner as a no-nonsense woman who would give his players real-world insights into high-profile athletes and those who try to exploit them.
“Brittany is a real woman, okay? She keeps it 100. She keeps it straightforward. And she is a tremendous influencer on Instagram. I brought her in to talk about the game from a woman’s point of view,” he explained.
For the now-Colorado head coach, one of the most striking moments from Renner’s interaction with his players came when she candidly admitted how much money she was making. Prime was simply taken aback by her sheer honesty and the valuable insight Renner, who is self-made herself, had just delivered.
“She broke it down for these guys—the game, and what she was trying to accomplish. She even told them, ‘I got more checks in my DMs than Nike.’ I said, ‘Wow.’ That meant they were all saying yes,” Sanders recalled.
Renner’s message was clear—there are women out there who do their homework. They know everything about athletes because the athletes themselves put it all out there on social media. “You think you’re running game, but they’re running game on you,” the Buffs HC summed up in a line.
From Sanders’ perspective, this is an important lesson to learn at a young age, as he himself struggled to distinguish between love and toxic relationships. According to Prime, he could have easily saved at least $20 million in divorces and legal fees if he had someone like Brittany Renner to guide him during his early NFL days.
“I was prepared for the game of football, but not that other game. Because I was so locked in. And then I misconstrued what love and some women were. If I would have had that, I promise you, at least 20. At least $20 million richer because of the divorces, the lawyer fees, all the bull junk that I’ve gone through as a man.”
Nevertheless, while Prime was thrilled with Brittany Renner’s involvement, the social media influencer didn’t entirely agree with how her visit was portrayed.
Brittany Renner’s perspective: ‘I wasn’t a cautionary tale’
From Renner’s perspective, a part of her felt that she herself was being portrayed as a gold digger and someone athletes should avoid in life. “They made it seem like I was a cautionary tale,” said the fitness model on Club Shay Shay while discussing her Jackson State visit.
Renner then rejected the notion that she was there to warn players about the so-called “gold diggers,” saying, “If I was a gold digger, I would be the dumbest one. I would be the least successful one.”
She added that many of her friends don’t even work in entertainment but have regular jobs in nursing and customer service. So, for her to have insight into the modus operandi of gold diggers was a far-fetched notion, she argued while defending herself.
Instead, she believed she was there to share perspective—not fear. “I wasn’t telling them, ‘Hey, don’t get caught.’ That’s not what happened.”
All said and done, it’s hard to have a clear stance on this topic because Deion Sanders’ statement shows him coming from the sole objective of providing his team with an unfiltered look at the realities of life as an athlete.
It’s hard to imagine Prime or anyone from JSU portraying her as a gold digger. Perhaps it was social media that might have added an unnecessary detail to what was a simple mentorship session.
