Sanders says agent not at meeting with Bryant

OKLAHOMA CITY — Former NFL player Deion Sanders says his longtime agent was not present for his meeting with Oklahoma State’s Dez Bryant and the star didn’t give the player any gifts.

Sanders said on the NFL Network’s “NFL Gameday Morning” on Sunday that agent Eugene Parker was “not whatsoever” involved in the meeting at Sanders’ home and there wouldn’t have been any problems if Bryant hadn’t falsified his story to the NCAA.

“Now, the problem was someone — they wanted to question Dez about our relationship and Dez was nervous about ‘Why do these NCAA people have me in this room with a closed door questioning me?’ Now, had I been a liar or falsified any incident or evidence, my story would have collaborated with Dez,” Sanders said. “The kid said he didn’t come to my home. In actuality, he did.”

The All-America receiver, who was ruled ineligible by Oklahoma State, issued a statement earlier this week that he “made a mistake by not being entirely truthful when meeting with the NCAA.”

Oklahoma State is applying for Bryant’s reinstatement.

Sanders said he has not served as a go-between to connect players with Parker. He said former Texas Tech receiver Michael Crabtree connected with the agent because he also represented Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald.

“I don’t need to make money off a child. God has taken care of me,” Sanders said. “The first thing I do when I talk to these guys like a Dez Bryant is I look them in the eye. I say, ‘I don’t need nothing. I don’t want nothing. I’m not here to benefit off you. I’m here to help you. But don’t lie to me.’”

Sanders, who has declined interview requests from The Associated Press through an NFL Network spokesman, said he didn’t have an opportunity to intervene with Bryant before he spoke to the NCAA, and that shouldn’t have been necessary.

“I don’t have to prepare a person to tell the truth. The truth is what it is,” Sanders said. “So the fact that he got nervous and falsified the truth, he thought he had done something wrong. When soembody’s there: ‘Were you at the house of Deion Sanders? Were you there? Were you there?’ The kid got nervous, and I don’t know why he falsified the truth, but I must reinstate: If I was a liar, my story would have collaborated with his. Just think about that.”

Sanders said his wife and Bryant’s girlfriend were also present for the meeting at his house “and we played basketball and had a good home-cooked meal.”

Sanders said he had never purchased anything for any of the players he has mentored.

“Why would I? The extent of our relationship is not that,” Sanders said. “I give them guidance and leadership and structure.”

Sanders said he was “emotionally tied” to Bryant’s family, saying that Bryant’s brother was involved with gangs and drugs “so to speak.”

“Do the math. The mother’s 34, the kid is 20 — 14 years old,” Sanders said. “I’m emotional about the cycle that’s going forth with the mother and the daughter, now the brother — habitual with drugs — That’s what I’m emotional about.

“Football is football. Football will take care of itself. We have a three-year span to play this game. I’m emotional about the life of these kids. That’s what I’m more concerned about.”

Sanders said he has a relationship with one of Bryant’s coaches at Oklahoma State, who will notify him if Bryant is late to a class or workout. He also said Bryant helped him with his summer youth programs.

“The problem is people get so caught up in what I do and forget about who I am, and they really don’t know who I am,” Sanders said. “Working with kids is what I do. I have over 100 and something kids in the NFL that I target. I call them kids but they’re young adults that I text every morning, Monday through Friday. I get weekends off because I’ve got to do my job here. I have over 200-300 kids in my youth programs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. That’s what I do. That’s who I am.”

Questions have also been raised around Sanders after he spoke on the NFL Network about other teams being interested in Crabtree while he was in a contract holdout with the San Francisco 49ers. The NFL started a tampering investigation following the comments, which Sanders said were based on a conversation with Parker.

“I am very confused. I’m confused with why there is an investigation on Dez Bryant as well as Michael Crabtree,” Sanders said. “It seems like it all points back to Eugene. I think people are upset with his success. I’m elated about it, but I’m not helping him in any means.”

Sanders reiterated that he “did no wrong” and didn’t know how he would change his approach to mentoring as a result of the Bryant and Crabtree situations.