After the Deion Sanders Hype Traveled the World, Reality Has Finally Gotten Its Boots On

Sanders & Sons – A Family Business Losing Its Hired Hands 

When a prospect joins the Colorado Buffaloes, it doesn’t take long for him to realize what he has gotten himself into. Colorado football is all about the family business.

Indeed, Sanders & Sons incessantly promote themselves more than the actual football program. Deion refuses to get off his soft, luxurious chair to make any home visits. And when the first 2024 spring football team meeting was held, he excused sons Shedeur Sanders and Shilo Sanders for a Paris trip to promote Louis Vuitton.

If Sanders wanted to turn over a football culture, he could not have done a better job. Locker rooms notice such antics, especially from the starting quarterback, and resent builds when the QB jets off to Paris for a high-end modeling gig while everyone else is getting ready for spring football

What is most bewildering about this is that Sanders has spent most of his life in a football culture. Thus, he should know better, but he either doesn’t care or never knew.

That defining moment was the ultimate of many wake-up calls for the rest of the players that they are nothing more than hired help for the Sanders & Sons family business, which takes priority over the concept of building a serious, winning football team.

Recently, Shedeur and Shilo put out social media requests for portal prospects to contact them. But players now see Colorado football for what it is. Thus, there are not as many quality applicants for work at Sanders & Sons.

Boulder, Colorado – An Unlikely Home for Coach Prime

Deion Sanders arrived at the University of Colorado from Jackson State, where he had great success coaching at an HBCU. Jackson, Mississippi, is not a wealthy locale and is a much tougher town than Boulder, Colorado.

Initially, Sanders said he wanted to raise the profile of HBCU football. He had hoped to draw talented black players to play for black coaches at black schools, at least until he was seduced by Colorado’s black and more golden bag.

Sanders’s departure drew criticism from many quarters. They believed he was just another sellout in it for himself. In the end, those who had placed faith in Coach Prime transforming HBCUs were bitterly disappointed.

Sanders left the relatively hardscrabble Jackson area for the riches of Boulder, Colorado, a self-promoted progressive town primarily populated by affluent residents who have never truly been into college football. As far as football goes in Boulder, the nearby Denver Broncos have always been the center of attention.

Consider that not even a national championship program under Bill McCartney could sell out Colorado’s Folsom Field for an entire season. McCartney won the 1990 natty and put CU in the AP Top 4 in three of his final six seasons before retiring after the 1994 campaign. But there still weren't any complete sellouts.

In 2023, Folsom Field was sold out every game for the first time ever. One year later, the sugar rush is starting to wear off and it can be seen in the Buffaloes' Spring Game.

My, What a Difference a Year Makes - Football’s Eternal Truths Prevail 

The 2024 Colorado spring game had an attendance of 28,424, albeit under poor weather. Either way, the weather was bitterly cold in 2023 when Folsom Field was sold out for the spring game. Thus, the excuse-making about bad weather doesn’t hold as well.

Deion Sanders spent the past weekend bloviating about taking CU to a bowl game for the upcoming season. But the hype train isn’t what it used to be. Football fans are tuning back into the offseason and NFL Draft news from the Broncos.

In one year, Deion Sanders’s friends in Boulder and the media are learning the eternal truth about championship football. It is all about substance, work, sacrifice, an emphasis on team, and toughness. The late great George Allen once said, “The Future is Now,” but a realistic plan is needed to address it. Allen had it. Coach Prime does not. 

There will always be hype surrounding Deion Sanders. But increasingly, more football fans are beginning to realize that the hype dog doesn’t hunt—and NEVER will.