Two nights ago, on the Thursday night football telecast, Deion Sanders continued with the same rhetoric he used earlier in the week, claiming big problems between Jim Harbaugh and the 49ers front office, as well as 49ers players. The tone Deion used was boisterous and dramatic. If he read a news headline or two he would realize he's a lot more wrong than he is right. After listening to "Primetime's" grandstanding, I took to Twitter to challenge him one on one.
My Tweets:
Wish @DeionSanders would back his reports up. How about you go to the team facility, where York, Baalke, and Harbaugh eat together.
— Trevor Woods (@Woods49ers) October 2, 2014
Also wish @DeionSanders would read the news and see countless players state their support for Harbaugh.
— Trevor Woods (@Woods49ers) October 2, 2014
Deion's Response:
@Woods49ers all of us ain't lying man. What would be the purpose?#Truth
— DeionSanders (@DeionSanders) October 2, 2014
Let's take a quick look at who is "all of us". Mike Florio exaggerated the Harbaugh to the Browns story, and then exaggerated the front office problems. Ian Rapoport has came up with two stories on the 49ers locker room problems, but has provided little concrete information regarding the real problems. Jay Glazer has piggybacked off of Ian's reports, and that's about it as to who all of them really are. Gossip leads to more gossip, and falsehoods expand to a point where they're deemed as #Truth.
The facts of the matter are Trent Baalke and Jim Harbaugh have went on the record saying there is no real riff between them. Earlier this year Baalke said "So much has been written and said that—unfortunately—it’s been written and been said by people that have never sat down with me, or personally sat down with Jim, or ever been in the building to see how the dynamics of this building work," Baalke said. "Our relationship is good. And it’s been good." More continues to be said by pundits like Deion, but they continue to put earmuffs on when facts are stated.
Response To Deion:
. @DeionSanders Go to the facility and see for yourself. You're completely wrong and speculating. You don't know whats going on there AT ALL
— Trevor Woods (@Woods49ers) October 2, 2014
Deion said he checked with three different "insiders" to make sure his "sources" were correct. I give zero credence to anything his insiders had to tell them, as they haven't been around the locker room either. This is exaggeration at a very high level, from a man who has always loved a circus show since his playing days. Deion loves drama, not truth. If Deion did love truth he would acknowledge all the players voicing their support for Coach Harbaugh. Alex Boone, Antoine Bethea, Colin Kaepernick, Vernon Davis, Jonathan Martin, Andy Lee, Michael Crabtree, Navorro Bowman, Michael Wilhoite, and Patrick Willis all have went on record voicing their support for Harbaugh. That's eleven players right there, a good sample size of what the locker room is like as a whole.
Harbaugh noted that Deion hasn't been around the facility in Santa Clara, he hasn't been in their locker room. He knows even less than the local writers that are there each day. Even writers that love to stir the pot, such as Tim Kawakami and Lowell Cohn, aren't reporting discord in the 49ers locker room. What does that say?
Finally, what is the story? Deion has yet to give a true story to go along with his report, he hasn't given a specific incident that would point to any problems in the locker room. Give us some facts, Deion, not just an accusation with no facts or story to go along with it. It's hot air more than anything else. Until Sanders gives us something more concrete, I'll go with Harbaugh's thought on the matter... that it's a bunch of crap.
Time For Me To Speculate
Maybe Deion is creating unfounded drama because Harbaugh beat him as a Michigan quarterback in 1986, in a 20-18 victory over Florida State. Maybe it's because Harbaugh beat the Cowboys in 1996, in the last minutes of the game, 25-24, ending the defending Super Bowl champs undefeated hopes.
Maybe Deion is exaggerating this issue to deflect an ongoing real story in his life. Deion's Prime Prep Academy charter school is going down in flames, enrollment is declining rapidly. Sanders was fired from the school in December after allegations he grabbed a school official by the collar bringing him to his knees, because he wanted the GPA of a player raised. There is audio of Deion explaining that he did put hands on the mans throat, here it is. Should we trust a man like this? I wouldn't. Especially when he hasn't given a real story or incident to point to yet. It appears Deion isn't about truth or ethics after all. Don't let a smile fool you. This isn't speculation, these are facts about a mans character.
A bunch of crap until proven otherwise is my approach to Deion's comments about the 49ers. If Primetime has nothing new to add on the subject, he should bite his tongue or head to Santa Clara and face the locker room. I don't think he would be well received there by the vast majority of personnel, players, or coaches. Whether Deion is lying or exaggerating, him continuing to beat the drum on this topic isn't cool.