"Absolute joke"- Deion Sanders' Sports Illustrated award for Sportsperson of the Year has CFB fans rolling with hilarious reactions

On Thursday morning, Sports Illustrated announced that Deion Sanders is the 2023 Sportsperson of the Year will be featured on the cover of their December 15 issue.

Coach Prime officially took over as the Colorado Buffaloes’s head coach in December 2022, after a dismal season that saw the team win only one game. He quickly turned things around with his distinctive style and vision at least for the start of the season.

Although, Sanders could not turn around the fortune for Buffs, he helped his players market themselves and make money from their personal brands.

A national columnist for Sports Illustrated, Pat Forde commended Sanders for being a trailblazer and named him SI’s 2023 Sportsperson of the Year. Forde wrote in today's SI article:

“In an era when players can profit by promoting and marketing themselves, Sanders is the expert in the field. He has always been Prime. This is his time.”

However, the college football world didn't react to the news as Sanders would have hoped, ruthlessly trolling him on social media and claiming him to be undeserving of the title.

On fan took to Twitter and commented:

“AI must have written this in September”

While another fan took it as a joke:

“What an absolute joke. Colorado is 4-8. Unreal!”

One fan found it unreal:

“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.”

Another fan remarked:

“I seriously had to check & see if this was a parody account…”

A fan genuinely commented on the SI post, saying:

“I mean I get it for the hype and start, but the finish was brutal.”

Some fans criticized SI's selection:

“4-8 sportsman of the year. Go home SI, you're drunk.”

A disappointed fan wrote for Coach Prime:

“So much talk, and nothing to show for!!! Great stuff coach.”

Check out more fan reactions down below:

Why did Sports Illustrated choose Deion Sanders?

In the report published by Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde, Deion Sanders's accomplishments were highlighted which led to him being named SI's Sportsperson of the Year.

The SI report highlighted that the University of Colorado football team, previously considered irrelevant, attracted the highest viewership of the season in the first 11 weeks, after coach Prime came along.

Colorado hosted five of the 13 most-watched games throughout the season, while Alabama, Ohio State, Texas, Penn State, and LSU each hosted two. Even the Buffs' loss to Oregon on September 23 drew in 10.03 million viewers.

They also assessed HC Deion Sanders’ quality as a celebrity, authentic man, god-fearing man, old-school college football coach and family man who received this prestigious award.