It’s officially a family affair for Deion Sanders in 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 fathering — duties to attend to.
Pictures from the away game at Amon G. Carter Stadium, shared Sports centershowed Deion and his son, 23-year-old defensive end Shilo Sanders, sharing a hearty hug and an apparent prayer ahead of the big game.
A few hours later, Deion and his team took home the victory, defeating the Horned Frogs 45-42 in a highly anticipated matchup.
Saturday wasn’t just Deion’s first game of the season as the Buffaloes coach after previously coaching at Jackson State; it also marked Shiloh’s team debut. The former Jackson State defensive end decided to join his father and brother, 21-year-old linebacker Shedeur, in Boulder in May.
Shedeur threw for 510 yards and four touchdowns with his father on the sidelines Saturday, CBS News reports.
Shilo shared the news that he will then be joining his family with a video announcement on social media, captioning “Devoted,” and a sound clip of the father’s introductory press conference in Colorado.
“It’s going to be a different place,” Deion said in the audio. “Different feel, different attitude, different energy. Different work ethic, different desire, different hunger, different desire. Different capacity. It’s going to be a different reach.”
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Before Saturday’s game, Deion spoke with PEOPLE about his “dream” to run the field with his team. His left big toe and second toe were previously amputated in 2021, and he currently wears a protective boot on his left leg after surgery for a blood clot in June. Therefore, he explained, a “nice, little comfortable run” would be enough.
He’s hoping to turn things around for Colorado after his new team went 1-10 last year and has had just one winning season in the Pac-12 since joining in 2011. And he seems singularly focused on that goal.
“Honestly, I won’t lie to you. I’m so caught up in what we’re doing and trying to be dominant in what we’re doing,” he shared. “I hardly watch TV. If the TV is on, it’s because I’m watching a film about our training sessions. I don’t even know? When does the pro season start? I have no idea.”
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While he may be staying away from TV, Deion has also been busy in the world of partnerships and could be hitting some more screens after partnering with California Almonds for his latest. He emphasized the importance of health when he spoke to PEOPLE last week.
“I was a person who always enjoyed almonds for the health part and for keeping me slim, for my physical presence,” he said of the ad campaign. “You have to understand, I’ve been through tons of surgeries, so to be able to recover from the exercise I’m doing now is to strengthen my whole body and strengthen everything on me.”
“And I’m only in my prime,” he added. “I feel like this is the third phase of my life, even though I’m far from it. It was like Prime Time. Then I went to Prime. And now it’s Coach Prime and I love it.”
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Source: HIS Education