Deion: Buffs remove several players for conduct detrimental to team

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  Adam RittenbergSep 22, 2026, 02:28 PM ET

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  College football reporter; joined ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University.

Colorado has removed several players for what coach Deion Sanders is calling conduct detrimental to the team.

Sanders and the team did not specify who has been dismissed. The coach noted the dismissals when asked Tuesday about his displeasure with several players laughing after last Saturday's 41-7 loss at Northwestern.

"I don't understand how in the world you can find joy, or you can find a laughing matter when I'm right behind you walking [into the locker room]," Sanders said Saturday. "I don't understand that, and I addressed it, and I'm going to put my foot in it, not on it."

Sanders said Tuesday that the dismissals don't stem only from what happened after the Northwestern loss.

"It's never one [thing]," Sanders said. "I'm one the most loving and giving and forgiving men you could ever meet, but when you start [having] conduct detrimental to the team, you don't care about the team, you care about you. I have a problem with that. 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 anymore."

Colorado slipped to 3-9 last season after going 9-4 in 2024. The Buffs are 2-1 and visit Baylor on Saturday to open Big 12 play.

Linebacker Tyler Martinez said the player dismissals are unfortunate, while adding, "But when you look at the big picture, if it's going to help us win we've got to do it."

Safety Ben Finneseth appeared at Sanders' news conference Tuesday and apologized for comments captured on social media as he prepared to take the field at Northwestern. Finneseth criticized Northwestern's temporary stadium, saying, "S--- sounds like a f---ing library."

"It was childish," Finneseth said. "It was a stupid thing that I said. It won't happen again. The way I handled it was horrible and I promise you guys that it will not happen again."