Steve Corder of Athlon Sports made waves in the college football world this week with a bombshell report on the Colorado Buffaloes football program under Deion Sanders, alleging a culture of bullying and violence.
Some have questioned the validity of the reporting from an outlet like Athlon while Sanders has discredited the report and threatened a “ramification.”
Corder joined The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz on Wednesday to defend his reporting and respond to the public reaction. He said that while he understands doubters around his story, he reported it for the public good.
“I just know I’ve talked to these kids, these young men. They’re scared, they’re worried about repercussions,” Corder said. “I’m just doing what I think is what’s right, what needs to be done. If this was going on anywhere, I would think that anybody would want to know about it. Whether it’s the university, it’s the state, whether it’s the players, families, whatever that may be.”
Specifically responding to Sanders’ comments about the story, Corder noted that Sanders did not deny the details. Corder also noted how Colorado staged a recorded conversation to respond to his piece at Athlon, which indicates they take it seriously even if Sanders’ comments were dismissive.
“They made specific content to talk about the story. If it’s not true, just say it’s not true,” Corder said. “But nobody has done that. CU gave a no comment, the players weren’t specifically asked about it, but nobody has come out and said, ‘no, none of that ever happened.’ Like I said, I’m confident in my reporting.”
Le Batard, who said later in the show that he believed Corder’s reporting, asked why others on the Colorado beat may not be reporting the same details of the culture of the program.
“I would think that the beat reporters are content because they have access, or they have the access that Deion allows them to have, and that’s enough for them,” Corder said. “Maybe they don’t believe what they see or what they’re told.”
Asked whether he or Athlon were scared of legal action against them, Corder said no.
“There’s no reason to worry. I vetted my sources. I checked, I double-checked. I have multiple people that I trust,” Corder said. “Once you talk to more than two, three, four people, I have to go with my gut and I believe these guys.”
Perhaps Athlon being a smaller outlet is working in Colorado’s favor in more ways than one. While they can threaten legal action and potentially scare the company, the school is likely also benefitting from the lack of attention it’s getting versus a story like this in The Athletic or the local newspaper.
The Arena Group-owned Athlon took over publishing the Sports Illustrated Fan Nation sites earlier this year. According to his bio on the websites and his social media presence, Corder runs their Colorado Buffaloes and Carolina Panthers sites.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.