Deion Sanders gifts Colorado Buffaloes with sunglasses

No. 18 Colorado Buffaloes (2-0) head coach Deion Sanders surprised his team with gifts during their Friday meeting in another phase of his clap back toward Colorado State coach Jay Norvell for comments the Rams coach made during his weekly radio show.

Norvell kicked the beef off by taking a jab at Sanders’ for wearing a hat and sunglasses during his press conference.

“I sat down with ESPN today,” Norvell said during his radio appearance. “I don’t care if they hear it in Boulder. I told them, ‘I took my hat off and my glasses off,'” Norvell said. “I said, ‘When I talk to grown-ups, I take my hat off and my glasses off. That’s what my mother taught me.'”

Norvell’s comments quickly got to Boulder and beyond. Sanders responded to Norvell’s comments Thursday by addressing his team at practice. In a video posted to X, the Colorado coach called the comments “bulljunk” and proclaimed that the CSU coach had made things “personal.”

Friday, the coach kept the response coming. In the morning, Coach Prime gave every player on the team a pair of his signature Prime 21 sunglasses from Blenders, posting a video of the gift to Instagram.

Sanders also gifted members of ESPN’s First Take and Pat McAfee’s show pairs of sunglasses to wear while interviewing him. Sanders addressed the comments again.

“I really started to contemplate, what happened? Why would you go into that direction? You know me, you know how I get down,” Sanders said to McAfee. “If we really want to talk, I can do this. I’m pretty good at this, but I don’t need to because the kids are ready.”

Commentators from McAfee to Stephen A. Smith wondered aloud why Norvell would give Sanders and the Buffs additional motivation. With games against No. 13 Oregon and No. 5 Southern California looming for Colorado, it’s possible Colorado could have overlooked the Rams. Better teams have fallen victim to a “trap game” a lot like this match-up.

Norvell’s Rams now have all of the Buffs’ attention.

“My kids are now on a 10,” Sanders said during his appearance on ESPN. “They are ready to play this game, and they can’t wait to play this game. We can’t wait to get it on.”

Norvell chose violence, and Sanders is more than willing to match the energy.

“They don’t realize, not only are we gonna kick their butts because it’s personal,” Sanders said in the Instagram video, “but it’s going to be business and also pleasure.”

How to Watch (and bet on) Colorado vs. Colorado State

Colorado hosts their instate rivals at Folsom Field at 10 p.m. on ESPN. It’ll be the 92nd meeting between the teams and the first since the 2019 season. Colorado has won the last five contests in the rivalry since the 2015 season. The Buffaloes are 67-22-2 in the series.

Colorado is 2-0 with wins against Texas Christian University and Nebraska, while Colorado State is 0-1 after a 50-24 loss against Washington State.

BetMGM has the Buffs as a 23.5-point favorite. Oddsmakers expect a high-scoring affair with a 62.5 over/under. You might not want to tell Coach Prime you’re doing it, but a $100 bet on the money line in favor of the Rams would cash out $1,150 for a Colorado State upset at +1050 odds.