Deion Sanders recalls initial reaction to Jay Norvell comments: 'What happened?'

Deion Sanders, per his own words, didn’t want to get into trading barbs with Colorado State head coach Jay Norvell. But when Norvell dropped a line about Sanders proclivity for wearing a hat and sunglasses in all settings, it was on.

But it left Sanders wondering: What changed? The Colorado head coach and Norvell had been complimentary of each other earlier in the week, and Sanders said on “The Pat McAfee Show” that he has no clue what happened to make Norvell call out his hat and sunglasses.

I don’t like that it happened because (he’s) a brother. You know, we started out right. He was complimenting me, I was complimenting him, he was doing his thing, but it just — it just took a quick left. What happened? Who got to him? Like, what happened? To take a left after what he said previously, it threw me off. And I really started to contemplate, ‘What happened? Why would you go to that direction? You know me.’ Like, you know how I get down,” Sanders said.

Sanders added that poking his proverbial bear was probably not a wise decision for the Rams head coach ahead of a road trip to Boulder.

“You know if we really want to talk, I can do this pretty darn good. I’m pretty good at this A.J. But I don’t need to (talk) because the kids, they’re ready man. Like that just — if it was a trap game, and I don’t believe in trap games, my kids now are on a 10. They are ready to play this game and they can’t wait to play this game. We can’t wait to get it on. We really can’t,” Sanders said.

Earlier in the day, on an appearance on ESPN’s “First Take,” Sanders addressed the issue in a more demur fashion. He cited a passage from the Bible to attempt to explain why Norvell called him out.

“Out of abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. That’s what my book told me,” Sanders said.

Norvell took a shot at the Buffaloes on his radio show

Colorado State has had to shoot videos for ESPN ahead of their game to promote that matchup, which Norvell said has added a chip on the shoulder of his players, and in the process made a comment regarding the appearance and presentation of Coach Prime.

“We’re excited, we had to do a bunch of ESPN videos and it’s great. I loved it. But our kids came out of those videos really with a chip on their shoulder. They’re tired of all that stuff,” Norvell said on his coach’s show Wednesday. “They really are tired of it. And I sat down with ESPN today, and I don’t care if they hear it in Boulder. I told them, ‘I took my hat off, and I took my glasses off.’ And I said, ‘When I talk to grown-ups, I take my hat and my glasses off.’ That’s what my mother taught me.”

Sanders has been known for wearing his sunglasses, hat, and even a hoodie during his recent press conferences and media appearances, bringing his unique style and swagger to the table per usual.

A style that Norvell is apparently not a fan of.

“They’re not gonna like us no matter what we say or do, it doesn’t matter. Okay? So let’s go up there and play. That’s just how I feel about it,” Norvell added. “So I don’t mean to take over the show, but I’m just tired of it. I’m tired of all that stuff and I know everybody else is too. So let’s go play.”

In response, Sanders released a video firing up his team about how their in-state rivals made things “personal.”