Dan Patrick wants to know why “the media” was so eager to push Deion Sanders toward an NFL head coaching job.
While Sanders hesitated to single out the media, ESPN was clearly driving the conversation about a potential Sanders-Dallas Cowboys pairing. Of course, the Cowboys ultimately hired Brian Schottenheimer as their next head coach, and Jerry Jones later delivered one of the most bizarre introductory press conferences in recent memory.
But that didn’t stop the speculation from becoming an entire news cycle.
Sanders, however, doesn’t see it that way.
“I’m not gonna say the media; the media, some people are very kind,” Sanders said during a spot on The Dan Patrick Show on Radio Row in New Orleans. “Some people do clickbait. So, when you mention my name, that’s gonna warrant an opinion. You’re not going to mention my name and not have an opinion. If you say anything and mention me, you’re gonna have an opinion.
“I’m not the kind of guy that’s idle, that you have nothing to say. When I walked in, you had an opinion. That’s just the thought that we provoke. It’s not the media. I just think when you look at me, you’re based with an opinion.”
Patrick pushed back, suggesting that some of the reporting about Sanders and the Cowboys was more “wishful” than factual.
“Jerry is magnetic, man,” Sanders replied. “Just us sitting down, hugging each other — he sat right behind me at The [NFL] Honors last night. But he’s magnetic. If we talk and hug — it’s going to be a story. Whatever Jerry does, it’s going to be a story. Jerry’s the only owner in the NFL that consistently makes you feel as though his team has a chance to win a Super Bowl every year — and you have an opinion about it.
“What other owner has that authenticity and that attraction? Nobody. Jerry’s one of a kind, man, and I love him.”
Sanders didn’t show much interest in joining the NFL but resisted the idea that the media alone was responsible for fueling the speculation.
If Sanders doesn’t want to blame the media, that’s fine. But the Cowboys talk didn’t appear out of thin air —someone was wagging the tail.
