It was a brisk, cold, sunny day in Boulder when Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes played their last regular-season game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The temperature never rose above 44 degrees, and Sanders made it a point for his team to embrace the cold rather than shy away from it.
Advertisement
Coach Prime didn’t allow his team to wear any hand warmers. During the pregame warm-up, he was heard saying, “Don’t fall prey to condition. It ain’t that cold.” He went on to add,
“I don’t want to see no hand warmers, I don’t want to see none of that bull junk.”
Coach Prime didn’t care how cold it was vs Oklahoma State
“I don’t want to see no hand warmers, I don’t want to see none of that bull junk”
: @TravisHunterJr pic.twitter.com/3KcECx1jlk
— We Coming (@SkoBuffsGoBuffs) December 2, 2024
Sanders wanted his team to adjust to the weather and toughen up. Whether for an intimidation factor or simply to hype the team up, he made it clear what he expected. “Let’s play football,” the head coach declared as he concluded his speech.
However, the fan reaction to the post drew some interesting reactions, ranging from comedy to confusion. Many netizens criticized the head coach for being hypocritical, as he himself was wearing hand warmers.
“As he’s wearing gloves lol,” one such user commented.
as hes wearing gloves lol
— BasedThanos.eth (@Maximill15) December 2, 2024
Meanwhile Dion had thick ski gloves on. I like him and want to keep liking him, but he’s making it hard.
— Tom Stetter (@TomStetter) December 2, 2024
But why they can’t have hand warmers tho? lol
— Dez ™ (@dezzi_2real) December 2, 2024
This user, meanwhile, brought receipts:
Ain’t this Deion lol pic.twitter.com/oXo0Me69QE
— Mike Walker (@mike_lowery7) December 2, 2024
It is pretty insensitive to the bench players when you think about it. Guys who don’t play and won’t get the workout in to offset the cold temperatures are seemingly forgotten about in Sanders’ demand. Why should the backups have to suffer?
The Buffaloes ended the day with a 52-0 drubbing over Oklahoma State. Surely, the backups got to play and get warm, right? Wrong. Sanders gave his veteran players as much playing time as he could as it was Senior Day at Folsom Stadium.
Shedeur Sanders threw the ball 41 times and had five touchdown passes, while the backup quarterback, Ryan Staub, only attempted one pass. No backup players recorded any significant stats for Colorado, surprisingly, as Coach Prime wanted to end his regular season with a bang.
It was maybe the right decision for Sanders, as they didn’t end up qualifying for the Big 12 championship. Which also means they are officially eliminated from the college football playoff. It’s a bummer for a team that had high hopes coming into the season, especially with the new expanded playoff.
But at least Sanders and the Buffaloes got one last victory in before a new era begins in Colorado. With Shedeur and Travis Hunter heading to the 2025 NFL Draft, next season will bring a whole new cast of characters for Coach Prime to lead.
