Social media reaction to Deion Sanders being named Sports Illustrated ‘Sports Person of the Year’
It doesn’t seem like that long ago that Tyrone Willingham was the talk of college football. In 2002 he helped jumpstart Notre Dame an 8-0 start and No. 4 ranking before being upset by Boston College at home.
Notre Dame would get crushed at USC at the end of November to finish the regular season 9-2. Despite the tough November, The Sporting News named Willingham their Sportsman of the Year for 2002.
Memories of that immediately came to mind to me Thursday morning when Sports Illustrated announced Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders as their 2023 ‘Sports Person of the Year’.
Sanders was certainly the story of college football for the first half of September as the Buffaloes were 3-0, but they’d finish the year with just a 4-8 mark and were blown out far more often than they were competitive.
Regardless, Sports Illustrated still named him and as you can probably guess, social media had a field day reacting.
AI Mention
AI must have wrote this in September 🤖
— SHREDDER (@SHREDDER_365) November 30, 2023
Losing Streak
He hasn’t won a game in almost two months
— KD (@notkdk3) November 30, 2023
Legit
Didn't beat one team with a winning record, went 1-8 in Conference play and finished the season losing 6 games in a row. Seems legit. pic.twitter.com/T3GtzHu5Bv
— PUBLORD (@publordhodl) November 30, 2023
Not Going Great
They went 4-8. Recruits are de-committing. Assistants are leaving. What’re we doing here?
— Kyle Lindemann (@LuckIsMadeFF) November 30, 2023
Nope, not a joke
I seriously had to check & see if this was a parody account… pic.twitter.com/BkRF0Y1mFU
— Bobby (@BobbyWilson1004) November 30, 2023
Committed too soon
Yea, I think it’s fair to assume they decided on this a little too soon 🤷♂️🤦♂️
— Paul P. (@PaulieP33) November 30, 2023
Decided in September?
Y’all made this decision in September and got to stick with it. I love prime but cmon man lol
— J (@Jbeezy__) November 30, 2023
Kind of says it all right here
— #8. Sebastian’s Pub (@SebastiansPub) November 30, 2023
12th place gets...
So there is a prize for 12th place in the Pac-12
— Kurt Zimmer (@KRZediting) November 30, 2023
It's Not September
Sports Illustrated is rightfully getting roasted for picking 4-8 Colorado's coach Deion Sanders as the 2023 Sportsperson of the Year.
If they stopped voting in September, that would've made some sense.. but now?
Colorado finished last in the Pac-12.. pic.twitter.com/xnrRL1okoj
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) November 30, 2023
ChatGPT?
In September, someone at Sports Illustrated typed "Who's the hottest name in sports right now?" into ChatGPT. Click here for the answer. https://t.co/LszkaVOj0j
— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) November 30, 2023
No, its not!
Is this The Onion? https://t.co/o75Yj4EM6n
— Matt Hayes (@MattHayesCFB) November 30, 2023
Congrats on 4-8!
Participation Trophy. https://t.co/zkjCPHk5tV
— John Williams (@john9williams) November 30, 2023
Different Suggestion
I really felt like Taylor Swift deserved it more. pic.twitter.com/lYuFqogQTJ
— Stef Fanski (@Oh__Cleveland) November 30, 2023
What about going from 1-11 to bowl eligible?
Well this guy actually took a 1-11 team last year and humbly reinvigorated a program! With more wins than Deon, using the same players, and actually becoming bowl eligible!! What's the difference?? Oh ya…well we all know! pic.twitter.com/s7EnjXxsw0
— CherokeeBillJr! (@CherokeeBillJr) November 30, 2023
Yours Truly
https://t.co/oGub6QNWtY pic.twitter.com/Gj3eWcLSRv
— Nick Shepkowski (@NickShepkowski) November 30, 2023
