Deion Sanders stands next to son Shilo ahead of his debut in Colorado.Photo:ESPN/Sportscenter
ESPN/Sportscenter
It’s officially a family affair forDeion Sandersin Colorado.
The University of Colorado Boulder football team played — and won — its first game of the season with the former NFL star, 56, as head coach on Saturday. And just before kickoff against Texas Christian University, he had some coaching — and fatherly — duties to tend to.
Hours later, Deion and his team took home the win, beating the Horned Frogs 45-42 in the highly anticipated matchup.
Saturday wasn’t only Deion’s first game of the season as coach for the Buffaloes after he previously coached at Jackson State; it also marked Shilo’s debut on the team. The former Jackson State defensive in May made the decision tojoin his dad and brother, 21-year-old quarterback Shedeur, in Boulder.
Shedeur threw for 510 yards and scored four touchdowns with his dad on the sidelines Saturday, perCBS News.
Shilo shared the news that he’d be joining his family at the time with a video announcement on social media, featuring the caption “Committed,” and a sound bite of his father’s introductory news conference in Colorado.
“It’s going to be a different place,” Deion said in the audio. “A different feel, a different attitude, a different energy. A different work ethic, a different want, a different hunger, a different desire. A different capacity. It’s going to be a different reach.”
Before Saturday’s game, Deion spoke with PEOPLE about his “dream” of jogging out on the field with his team. He previously hadhis left big toe and second toe amputated in 2021, and currently wears a protective boot on his left foot following a blood clot procedure in June. Therefore, he explained, a “nice, little comfortable jog” would suffice.
He’s hoping to turn things around for Colorado after his new squad went 1-10 last year and has only had one winning season in the Pac-12 Conference since joining in 2011. And it seems he’s singularly focused on that goal.
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“I was a person who always enjoyed almonds for the health part of it and how it kept me lean, my physical presence,” he said of the ad campaign. “You’ve got to understand, I’ve been through a multitude of surgeries, so to be able to recover from the exercise that I’m putting in now with strengthening my whole body and strengthening everything about myself is tremendous.”
“And just being in my prime,” he added. “I feel like this is the third phase of my life, although I’m a long way from done. It was like Prime Time. Then I went to Prime. And now it’s Coach Prime, and I love it.”
source: people.com
