Dan Patrick questions why “the media” was so keen to promote Deion Sanders for an NFL head coaching position. While Sanders refrained from directly naming the media, ESPN played a significant role in the speculation surrounding a potential Sanders-Dallas Cowboys connection. Ultimately, the Cowboys opted for Brian Schottenheimer as their next head coach, leading Jerry Jones to later deliver one of the most peculiar introductory press conferences in recent memory.
Nevertheless, the speculation persisted, creating an entire news cycle despite Sanders’s indifference towards it. “I’m not gonna say the media; some people are very kind,” Sanders stated during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show from 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.”
Sanders continued, “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 faced with an opinion.” Patrick countered, implying that the stories regarding Sanders and the Cowboys were more based on “wishful” thinking than solid facts.
“Jerry is magnetic, man,” Sanders said. “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.” While Sanders showed little inclination towards an NFL position, he did not entirely dismiss the media’s role in stoking the speculation. If he wants to absolve the media, that’s acceptable, but the chatter regarding the Cowboys didn’t appear from nowhere — someone was wagging the tail.
