"I wasn't shooting at no kid": Colorado HC Deion Sanders clarifies his 'Lawd Jesus' tweet about Jaheim Ward

In a recent social media altercation, Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders found himself entangled in a verbal skirmish with critics, notably former player Xavier Smith and Austin Peay's Jaheim Ward.

Former Colorado safety Xavier Smith expressed his discontent and told The Athletic, "Deion Sanders never even tried to get to know me," further accusing him of "destroying guys' confidence and belief in themselves."

Buffs quarterback Shedeur Sanders retaliated on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), claiming ignorance of Smith's identity, writing, "Bro had to be very mid at best," implying that Smith was mediocre as a player.

The exchange escalated into a volley of trash talk, with Colorado receiver Kaleb Mathis posting a video of himself outplaying Smith in a practice session, which prompted Jaheim Ward to criticize Mathis' on-field performance, citing his mere 38 receiving yards last season.

Ward's rebuttal led to the disclosure of his lackluster career stats at Austin Peay (36 tackles over three seasons), to which coach Sanders responded with a post reading "Lawd Jesus" above a screenshot of Ward's statistics.

In an exclusive interview addressing the controversial post, Sanders clarified that his use of "Lawd Jesus" was not an attack on Jaheim Ward but rather an expression of surprise at the intensity of the exchange.

"I try my best not to hit him, but you gotta understand I'm human...it blew up in everybody in the country, nobody, just because I said Lord Jesus. And really what I was saying was, man, he went at it. Like that's what I was really, y'all know what Lord Jesus mean. That mean, dang, you really went at this guy."

Sanders clarified his intention behind the post and said:

"So they took it as I was shooting at the kid and I was, you know, I don't play shooting at no kid. I was like saying, dang, Daven ain't playing, y'all better lead him along. That's really what I was like, Lord Jesus. So, and you know, I'm not really social media nearly to tell you sadly, so I don't know."

Keyshawn Johnson defends Deion Sanders and his son Shedeur Sanders amid social media scrutiny

Shedeur Sanders' social media comments sparked intense scrutiny, with criticism directed at the Sanders family and concerns raised about Shedeur's draft stock. However, former NFL wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson believes the backlash is exaggerated due to Deion Sanders' involvement and said on his "All Facts, No Brakes" show:

“Now this is all part of the Deion hate. This all that is they gonna do that. It’s a Deion hate."

Johnson dismissed concerns about Shedeur's draft prospects and said:

"Shedeur gonna be Shedeur, bottom line and he’ll be one of the top players off the board when his time comes."

In his inaugural season as Colorado coach, Deion Sanders led the team to a 4-8 record amid significant roster turnover. Notably, 24 players have entered the transfer portal since its opening on April 16, while Colorado is set to acquire 34 new players via the portal, ranking sixth nationally in transfer class, per 247Sports.