Colorado's Deion Sanders cuts players for 'conduct detrimental to the team'; S Ben Finneseth apologizes for jab at Northwestern

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AP Photo/Mike Stewart

Colorado’s Tuesday news conference began with a public apology from a sixth-year defender who went viral for disparaging Northwestern’s temporary stadium before the Buffaloes suffered a 41-7 loss to the Wildcats.

Later at the podium, head coach Deion Sanders revealed in the wake of that humbling defeat that he’s removed players for “conduct detrimental to the team.”

Sanders didn’t mention those players by name or disclose how many of them were kicked off, but he emphasized that he no longer has a tolerance for selfish disposition.

When asked if those dismissals were the result of a pattern of behavior, Sanders explained that “it’s never one [thing].”

“Those guys could tell you, I'm the most loving and giving and forgiving man you could ever meet, but when you start [doing] conduct detrimental to the team that will set us back and … you don't care about the team, you care about you — I have a problem with that.

“And a year ago, I didn't put my foot down in it enough. It lingered a little bit. Then it imploded. I'm not doing that. I'm not doing that anymore.”

Colorado plummeted to 3-9 last season, a steep drop-off after it won nine games during the 2024 campaign, when Shedeur Sanders quarterbacked and two-way star Travis Hunter won the Heisman Trophy.

So far this time around, the Buffaloes are 2-1; however, they scored only 14 points in the first of those wins — a thrilling season opener against Georgia Tech — and blew out FCS Weber State to record the other.

Then they were boat raced by the Big Ten’s Wildcats, right near Lake Michigan, off which 12,023 fans watched the beatdown at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium. In the lead-up to that lopsided affair, Colorado safety Ben Finneseth was captured on video disparaging the stadium, which has housed Northwestern football during the construction of the new Ryan Field since the start of the 2024 season.

Finneseth, now in his sixth season with the Buffs, could be heard saying the temporary stadium “f***ing sucks” and “sounds like a f***ing library.” His only snaps in the game came on special teams, per Pro Football Focus.

“I just wanted to apologize, first of all, to you guys, to everyone that's tied in with the university, to everyone at Northwestern, to everyone that supports us, to my teammates, to my coaches,” Finneseth said Tuesday, standing next to Sanders while he delivered his statement.

“It was childish. It was a stupid thing that I said. It won't happen again. And the way I handled it was horrible. I promise you guys that it will not happen again, and it will be much more mature moving forward.”

He reiterated: “So I apologize.”

Northwestern faithful have reveled in the 34-point shellacking. David Braun’s squad is 2-0 heading into Friday night’s showdown with No. 5 Indiana in Bloomington.

The Wildcats will debut their new $862 million, 35,000-seat stadium stadium on Friday, Oct. 2, when they host Penn State.

“Coach Braun and Coach Kelly from Northwestern, I have the utmost respect [for them],” Sanders said in his opening statement, also referencing first-year Wildcats offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.

“Both of them came over to speak to me, and we had great conversations, and they went on to kick our butts, but I have the utmost respect for that school, that team, what they're doing with the program, and some foolishness came out of it, and we want to correct our wrongs and make it right right now.”

Sanders additionally took issue with postgame shenanigans. In the immediate aftermath of the loss on Saturday, he vocalized disappointment in some of his players apparently treating the defeat as a “laughing matter.”

Accountability was the theme of Sanders’ Tuesday news conference. He’s owning responsibility for his program’s shortcomings, and he’s requiring his players to do their part, too.

“We want to win. That's the No. 1 [priority], but we want to win the right way,” said Sanders, a Pro Football Hall of Famer who is 18-22 in three-plus seasons at the helm of Colorado.

“We want to do what's right. But the whole thing is about winning. And we don't want to ever employ a losing type of sentiment. We don't want to do things that are associated with losers and bad-mouth opponents and do that kind of stuff. That's not who we are.”

On-field discipline was an issue for the Buffs last week as well. They committed nine penalties and four turnovers.

“We are on everything right now with a microscope,” Sanders said. “We're challenging them to be who they say they want to be.”

Linebacker Tyler Martinez, a transfer from New Mexico State, admitted that the dismissals were hard to process, given how tight-knit the team is. But as a leader of the group, he also understands his coach’s decision.

“The dismissals, it sucks in the moment, but when you look in the big picture, if it's going to help us win, we got to do it,” Martinez said.

“And it is what it is. I'm sorry to see those guys go, but we have games to win here. So whatever it takes is whatever it takes.

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