Sports

Deion Sanders criticizes NCAA, says players are 'athlete-students'

February 6, 2026

Story byBrent Schrotenboer, USA TODAYFri, February 6, 2026 at 8:44 PM UTC·4 min readColorado football coach Deion Sanders wants a commissioner to govern the new Wild West of college football and declared that college players are no longer student-athletes but instead are athlete-students. Sanders said this on ESPN’s First Take on Friday, Feb. 6, after traveling to California's Bay Area to do media interviews at the site of Super Bowl 60. One of the show’s panelists, Ryan Clark, used the term “student-athlete” to ask him about how times have changed in college football, leading Sanders to interject and correct him. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“It's athlete-student,” Sanders said.

Deion Sanders criticizes NCAA, says players are 'athlete-students'

Credit: Yahoo

Key Highlights

“Ain't no student-athlete no more.”Sanders noted his team recently had the highest grade-point average in the history of Colorado football in 2024 (3.011).
But he criticized the timing of the transfer portal this year, when players could enter it from Jan.
2-16.
Colorado started spring-semester classes Jan.
8, putting the school in a crunch as it tried to enroll more than 40 new transfers.

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Deion Sanders criticizes NCAA, says players are 'athlete-students'

This quick summary is automatically generated using AI based on reports from multiple news sources. The content has not been reviewed or verified by humans. For complete details, accuracy, and context, please refer to the original published articles.

Deion Sanders criticizes NCAA, says players are 'athlete-students'

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