Paul Finebaum, Stephen A. Smith get into heated debate over Deion Sanders' latest attack on media

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders grabbed headlines again this week when he went on the attack about the perceived undeserved scrutiny some of his players have received from the media during an answer about two-way star Travis Hunter.

College football analyst Paul Finebaum made it clear he disagreed with Sanders’ statement during Wednesday’s episode of ESPN’s First Take. Finebaum accused the Buffaloes head coach of “gaslighting” and calling his attack on the media “entirely spineless.” It’s a statement that First Take host Stephen A. Smith took issue with as First Take devolved into a heated debate.

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“I’m going to respectfully disagree,” Smith said to Finebaum. “I think it’s a bit extreme for you to say that he was gaslighting, I don’t think that’s true. There are some points that you have made that are damn right accurate, and I will get to that in a second. But when you listen to what Deion said, he said some of y’all. He didn’t say everybody. There’s always some of us that get a bit personal, there’s always some of us, there’s bad apples in every industry… He didn’t say everybody, he said some, I think he’s accurate about that.”

Sanders has brought an unprecedented amount of media attention to Colorado football since becoming the head coach ahead of the 2023 season. It’s an obvious double-edged sword that’s come with both positive and negative press, including critiques from local and national media alike. That criticism hit a boiling point when Sanders and the Colorado program banned Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler from asking questions at press conferences after deeming his opinion columns as “sustained, personal attacks on the football program” and specifically Sanders.

“They’re not getting criticized,” Finebaum said regarding Colorado’s players. “The guy at the Denver Post, Sean Keeler, went after Deion. He never went after a player and unless Deion Sanders or you Stephen A. Smith can come up and tell me what player specifically he has gone after, I’m going to continue on with what I’m saying. I am really shocked by you trying to split the baby here Stephen A., I mean you know better, Deion Sanders is completely wrong here.”

Finebaum also accused Smith of being subservient to Sanders, refusing to give Sanders the benefit of the doubt for comments that he believes are untrue.

“You can’t knock me for quoting the man and accuse me of being subservient because I’m taking him based off of what he actually said and I’m deducing what it means from the words coming out of his mouth,” Smith said. “You do that every day.

“You choose not to give him the benefit of the doubt, I choose to give him the benefit of the doubt because I’m quoting him, I’m quoting him,” Smith repeated. “Now you can deduce from his quotes that you don’t believe a damn word he’s saying … You’re the same Paul Finebaum that’s come over the airways last year and this year talking about how people were rooting for him to fail. So if they were rooting for him to fail, which is something that you conceded last year, right? Chances are that the level of venom, vitriol, criticism coming in this direction only, only intensified, right?”

Finebaum took one last jab at Smith on the way out of his debate. Making a reference to First Take hitting the road on Friday for a live show at Howard University, the first stop on the ‘First Take on the Road’ series dedicated to highlighting HBCUs.

“Stephen A. when you go to your alma mater on Friday, you might want to take your degree back,” Finebaum said. “I’ve always had great respect for you as a journalist, and I still do, but you’re going to some unbelievable length, breaking your back, trying to make a case for Deion Sanders. Who just threw that out there without a single specific.”

Smith clarified that he actually graduated from Winston Salem State, also noting that he is not giving Sanders a complete pass for his comments, but that criticism toward his players from the media isn’t hard to believe. Especially as Colorado’s relationship with the media remains fascinating to track this football season.