"I never stopped fathering" - When Deion Sanders defended his parenting style 4 months after ex-wife Pilar complained on his methods

Last year, Deion Sanders' youngest daughter, Shelomi, made a massive decision regarding her collegiate basketball career. She decided to transfer from the Colorado Buffaloes to play for Alabama A&M. However, Coach Prime was not happy with this decision.

He publicly called Shelomi 'stupid' for entering the transfer portal and joining Alabama A&M. This led to Deion Sanders' ex-wife, Pilar, to criticise the Colorado head coach in an online rant.

However, Coach Prime defended his parenting style. During an appearance on ex-NFL star RGIII's podcast on 27 August 2024, Sanders addressed his ex-wife's criticism while standing firm on his parenting principles.

"I'm a divorced father, but I didn't stop fathering, Deion said. "Won custody of my kids that I never stopped fathering... I've been here the whole time... I've built my life around my kids. The moves I made was based on my babies, not me. My babies. They was based on what was good for them, so I take pride in that. I ain't no baby daddy. I'm a father."

Deion Sanders and Pilar tied the knot in 1999. They have three children together (Shedeur, Shilo and Shelomi), while Coach Prime had two more kids (Bucky and Deiondra) with his ex-wife, Carolyn Chambers.

Deion and Pilar finalized their divorce in 2013, with Coach Prime getting custody of the kids. They've spent years co-parenting the kids.

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What did Pilar Sanders say about Deion Sanders?

After Shelomi decided to join Alabama A&M, Pilar Sanders accompanied and helped her with the shifting process. After Coach Prime's criticism of his daughter's decision went viral, Pilar called him out in the vlog they shared on YouTube.

In the video, we see Sanders' ex-wife's strong words about the Colorado coach not being supportive of his daughter's decision.

"Don't make me say more than I have to say, stop talking about being a present parent, Pilar said. "So waking up to the news of Shelomi's decision to enter the portal and her dad saying that it's basically stupid... is very disturbing, because on all fronts, all the children, everyone in his life, they've done nothing and at times... we've done nothing but support everything he's done... I support my children in whatever they want to do..."

Despite the scuffle, Shelomi and Coach Prime made it up over the following months and rekindled their connection. Shelomi also made an appearance on Deion's social media as he continues to recover from an unknown health issue.

Edited by Dipayan Moitra