Deion Sanders explains why UCLA recruits should not be severely punished for stealing Colorado's jewelry

During the Colorado Football Coaches Show on Wednesday, the Buffaloes’ head football coach, Deion Sanders, revisited the situation that occurred when they took on UCLA. The Colorado Buffaloes‘ players had several things stolen from their bags in their locker room while participating in the Week 9 matchup. A few days after that game, it was revealed that the items were stolen by UCLA recruits on an official visit.

Since the UCLA Police Department confirmed what happened and the individuals responsible for the act, some individuals have called for those young men to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. However, Sanders has a different perspective on the situation altogether. According to the Buffaloes’ headman, those young men should have the opportunity to do more with their lives and still attend college.

“I don’t mind those kids being disciplined,” opened Sanders. “If it’s community hours of service, whatever, let that be it. Because there should be some type of discipline, but it shouldn’t be discipline so severe that they don’t get an opportunity to go to college or to move on with their lives. The point I made was that when we were 17 and 18 years old, we did some stupid stuff. But we act like we never did that stupid stuff because we’re parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts; we’re everything.

“They should get another opportunity, but the media in our society, we want to bash people so bad. They’re probably gonna release their names, and then, they’re probably not going to receive an opportunity at those per se schools that they probably would have.”

To be clear, Sanders is not advocating that no discipline should come to pass for the young men who broke into the Colorado locker room and stole from his player. He suggests that there is leniency when dishing out their punishment. Why? Because Sanders understands that 17 and 18-year-olds are not the best when making decisions, and at some point in time, we have all made a mistake in our lives. But that mistake should not define us for the rest of our lives in Sanders’s eyes.

“There’s no excuse for stealing and doing that, but in some situations out there, we have even on our team. If you talk to these young men; you don’t condone, but you understand. ‘OK, I’m not condoning what you do, but I understand why you would think that it’s OK.’ Because they come from some situations that are unbelievable. So, I just wish those kids get another opportunity, that we don’t ostracize them from the opportunity that they would be afforded had not done what they did.”

As a leader of young men in his own right, coaching at every level except the NFL, Sanders is well aware of the struggles that some young individuals face in their daily lives. Not only that, but he understands the opportunity that going to college could present to some of these individuals could help them progress and be better individuals. So, while some would like to throw the book at the UCLA recruits for their actions, Sanders believes they deserve an opportunity to attend college in the near future.