DENVER – Colorado coach Deion Sanders believes it’s high time his quarterback son earns a lucrative watch deal.
After all, Shedeur Sanders has made holding up his wrist adorned with a pricey timepiece a viral — and fashionable — trend. NFL players are even mimicking the gesture, with Las Vegas Raiders receiver Davante Adams displaying his watch entering the stadium Monday night. Music producer DJ Khaled is on board, too, calling the gesture “The Shedeur.”
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“(Shedeur) can’t keep doing it for free,” Deion Sanders said Tuesday as the Buffaloes (4-2, 1-2 Pac-12) prepare to host Stanford (1-4, 0-3) on Friday night at sold-out Folsom Field. “He can’t keep doing it for nothing.”
Same with Sanders and his list of buzzwords. The team behind the charismatic coach has steadily been filing for trademarks on some of his catchier phrases, such as “We keep receipts.” Next on the list just may be “hot garbage,” which he used following the Buffaloes’ 27-24 win at Arizona State over the weekend where they needed a 43-yard field goal by Alejandro Mata with 12 seconds remaining.
“Somebody probably already beat me to that,” Sanders said of trademarking “hot garbage.”
Looks like it may be available?
“Probably somebody’s going to beat me to that now,” he said.
No one can argue with his success — on and off the field. Ticket sales have soared since he took over, with every home game sold out this season and merchandise sales skyrocketing. He's already outperformed the preseason projected total wins for the Buffaloes (3 1/2, according to FanDuel Sportsbook), in using the transfer portal to quickly transform a program that finished 1-11 last season. He’s got the Buffaloes on the verge of bowl eligibility, too.
“I don’t give a darn about no bowl right now,” Sanders said. “If that’s part of the package at the conclusion of a season of winning, I’m all for it.”
His undivided attention is on preparing his team for the Cardinal after a performance against the Sun Devils that didn’t exactly please him. He said he’s gotten through to those he needed to get through to.
“This ain’t a mind game I’m playing,” Sanders said. “This is real. I say what I say, and I mean what I mean. I don’t stutter, nor do I stumble. I make it plain. They know who I’m talking to.”
The Buffaloes may be receiving a big boost much sooner than anticipated as two-way standout Travis Hunter was cleared to practice. Hunter has been out since taking a late hit in the Colorado State game on Sept. 16 that sent him to the hospital with a lacerated liver.
“There's a tremendous chance he could play,” said Sanders, who earlier maintained that Hunter might be sidelined until after the bye week when Colorado plays at UCLA on Oct. 28. “It goes by how he looks, how he performs in practice, how his wind is. He has to be in shape. I don’t want him to be a liability. I want him to always be a tremendous asset.
“But I hope he can play.”
One of the primary missions this week will be finding ways to protect Shedeur Sanders, who's taken a lot of hits in leading the nation in yards passing.
Count his father as impressed.
“Just mental toughness, physical toughness,” Deion Sanders said. “Shoot, he’s a darn Sanders. That was understood around the crib that you’re going to be mentally and physically tough."
About that watch gesture, Shedeur Sanders recently said it was just something in the moment that keeps gaining steam.
Really, though, his dad said, Shedeur Sanders has been doing all of this — the celebrating, the proficient passing — his entire career. It just so happens to be a bigger stage at Colorado than in high school or at Jackson State.
"If you Google us winning the state championship, he’s sitting there with a diamond watch on. He’s sitting up there with his chains on," Deion Sanders said. “He’s already done the stuff that you’re seeing. So I’ve seen these things.”
Notes: Mata, who was named the Pac-12 special teams performer of the week, did a little dance after his winning kick. He hinted he had another celebration to unveil. “It's a surprise,” he said. ... Sanders said his program has been in high demand among recruits. “We’re very attractive right now to recruits and they're contacting us by the dozens," Sanders said. “We’re right where we want to be.”
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll