Emmanuel Sanders is well on his way to becoming a Bronco fan favorite, if he’s not already. His fearless style of play has gained him a strong following of support in his first season in orange and blue.
That support translated to his appearance as a special guest at a youth football camp on Thursday. The camp was put on by former Broncos wide receiver Ed McCaffrey.
Speaking to a group of kids at the football camp, Sanders talked to the kids about developing skills on and off the field. It was during a Q & A period, though, that Sanders really opened up and let fly with some comments about the Patriots and Deflategate.
When asked if he was upset about the Patriots scandal he responded:
“Am I mad about Deflategate? I feel like I’m on ESPN with that question. …Yeah, yeah, I’m kind of mad. I don’t think that they should be the Super Bowl champion this year. You aren’t supposed to cheat. Cheating is not good, especially when you’ve got guys who are working they’re butts off for 365 days out of the year and one person cheats — whether it helps them win the Super Bowl or not, they still cheated and shouldn’t be a champion.”
There is no mincing of words with Sanders. He is calling it as he sees it.
Sanders might catch some heat for these comments – let’s not forget that Sanders was talking to a group of kids and trying to send a good message to them – but surely he can’t be alone in his sentiments. The New England Patriots won the Super Bowl in February and no one can take that away from them, but just like Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez and other athletes who cheated in sports, some fans will always want to place an asterisk next to their accomplishments. The same goes for the Patriots and their Super Bowl XLIX victory.
All Sanders and the Broncos can do is take this as extra motivation and continuously work so next February, Denver can be at Levi’s Stadium lifting the Lombardi trophy.
Sammy Mugharbil, a Mile High Sports intern and student at MSU-Denver contributed to this report.
