{"id":1363,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/1363","headline":"Deion Sanders calls $50,000 critic payoff claim a joke","dek":"The Colorado coach pushed back Tuesday after associate Christopher \"Uncle Neely\" said Sanders offered critics cash to stop mentioning his name.","body":"Deion Sanders spent part of his Tuesday press conference cleaning up a story he says was never real. The claim came from Christopher Neely, a YouTube creator known as \"Uncle Neely\" who has been around Sanders since his Jackson State days. On a roundtable internet program, Neely said Sanders had told critics, \"Hey man, let's just do this. I give you $50,000 to not mention my name for a year,\" adding that nobody had taken him up on it.\n\nAsked about it Tuesday, Sanders seemed caught off guard before someone off camera, presumably Neely, explained the reference to a show from the spring. Sanders then said the whole thing had been misread. \"I think you misinterpreted that,\" he said. \"I said . . . I would love to give you money and not mention my name, and I want to see how far that goes. That was a joke. That's what we were saying. Like some people live on your name.\"\n\nSanders did make a similar comment previously, and it sounded more like a hypothetical than a real offer. Whether critics believe that framing is another matter entirely.","published_at":"2026-10-27T21:48:13.498377+00:00","source_count":4,"written_from":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Deion Sanders says offer of $50,000 to critics was "a joke"","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/deion-sanders-says-offer-50-203714841.html"},{"outlet":"Pro Football Talk","publisher":"NBC Sports","title":"Deion Sanders says offer of $50,000 to critics was \"a joke\"","url":"https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/deion-sanders-says-offer-of-50-000-to-critics-was-a-joke"},{"outlet":"Fox Sports","publisher":"Fox Sports","title":"Deion Sanders Says He Was Joking About Offering Money To Silence Critics","url":"https://www.foxsports.com/stories/college-football/deion-sanders-coach-prime-colorado-buffaloes"},{"outlet":"CBS Sports","publisher":"CBS Sports","title":"Deion Sanders allegedly offered critics $50K to stop talking as Colorado sinks in Big 12","url":"https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/deion-sanders-offered-critics-50k-colorado-big-12/"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Colorado insider claims Deion Sanders has offered critics $50,000 to not talk about him","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/colorado-insider-claims-deion-sanders-142337319.html"},{"outlet":"Pro Football Talk","publisher":"NBC Sports","title":"Colorado insider claims Deion Sanders has offered critics $50,000 to not talk about him","url":"https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/colorado-insider-claims-deion-sanders-has-offered-critics-50-000-to-not-talk-about-him"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Deion Sanders brushes off comment made about offering money to silence critics, says it was a joke","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/deion-sanders-brushes-off-made-181804633.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Deion Sanders allegedly offered bribe money to critics","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/deion-sanders-allegedly-offered-bribe-211216821.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Colorado’s Deion Sanders apologizes after YouTube content creator pal steps in it with $50,000 comment","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/colorado-deion-sanders-apologizes-youtube-214812547.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Deion Sanders’ $50,000 Offer Was Just A Joke, But The Lie Hurts","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/deion-sanders-50-000-offer-213852657.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Deion Sanders says comment about offering money to silence critics was a joke: 'I don't give a damn what you say about me'","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football/article/deion-sanders-says-comment-about-offering-money-to-silence-critics-was-a-joke-i-dont-give-a-damn-what-you-say-about-me-230405604.html"}],"image":{"url":"https://nbcsports.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ef96092/2147483647/strip/false/crop/1920x1080+0+0/resize/1920x1080!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhdliveextra-a.akamaihd.net%2FHD%2Fimage_sports%2FNBCU_Sports_Group_-_nbcsports%2F550%2F747%2Fnbc_pft_sandersagent_261015.jpg","credit":"Pro Football Talk","width":1920},"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. 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