The Colorado football community honored Deion Sanders on Wednesday night after the influential first-year coach was named Sports Illustrated’s 2023 Sportsperson of the Year last week.
Around 4,500 Colorado fans, students and various other members of the community gathered at the CU Events Center to celebrate Sanders’s award and his inaugural season with the Buffaloes. His three sons, Colorado quarterback Shedeur, safety Shilo and Deion Jr. all attended the event, too. Former Buffaloes quarterback and NFL star Kordell Stewart was present as well.
Sanders received a standing ovation as he took the stage to give a speech to thank everyone for coming.
Sports Illustrated
The coach also gave a specific shout-out to one particular fan—99-year-old Peggy Coppom, who has won the hearts of many for her strong support of the Buffaloes over the years. Sanders had one promise for her, too.
“It’s my challenge to that whole entire team. It’s my challenge to the coaching staff. It’s my challenge to the support staff of Amazon Prime Video. It’s my challenge to Sports Illustrated that we’re gonna get Peggy to a bowl game next season.”
Those in attendance also got to see a sneak preview of Sanders’s new season of Coach Prime, which premieres on Friday on Amazon Prime Video.
The Buffaloes went 4–8 in Sanders’s first season with the team, but his influence off the field was something rarely seen in the college football space before him. Football games were sold out every home game for the first time in school history. Recruitment numbers at Colorado went up. And, the team brought in impressive television ratings, with a Sept. 23 loss to Oregon being one of the most-watched regular season games this year.
Congratulations, Coach Prime 🏆#GoBuffs pic.twitter.com/hH9BmjPtpC
— Colorado Buffaloes (@CUBuffs) December 7, 2023
