The No. 23 Colorado Buffaloes will be led by their top two players when they play in the non-playoff Valero Alamo Bowl against No. 17 BYU on Saturday. Many potential top picks in the draft would opt out of a Bowl game with no CFP implications in a heartbeat. Head coach Deion Sanders will have all his first-string guys out there, nonetheless.
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But don’t fret — he also took out historic insurance policies for Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter, Shilo Sanders, and other draft-eligible players, much to former NFLer David Bakhtiari’s delight.
An 11-year NFL veteran and five-time All-Pro, Bakhtiari, knows a thing or two about the impact of injuries. The Green Bay Packer for life missed 16 games in 2021, six in 2022, and another 16 in 2023. He recognizes the massive risk that Sanders and Hunter are taking by opting into this seemingly meaningless Bowl game.
Therefore, he applauded Coach Prime for taking the necessary steps to mitigate that risk, shouting him out on Christmas Eve.
“This man has his finger on the pulse,” Bakhtiari wrote on X, reacting to a report about Colorado’s insurance initiative.
This man has his finger on the pulse. 👏🏼👏🏼@DeionSanders https://t.co/lWn5lnwbQQ
— David Bakhtiari (@DavidBakhtiari) December 24, 2024
To be clear, taking out insurance policies is not a unique idea in the NCAA. It has become more common with every passing year. Though they are only really taken by players expected to be selected in the first couple rounds of the NFL Draft. In an ESPN story in 2017, they broke down the raw numbers that college athletes or programs can expect when taking out such a policy.
“According to industry professionals, the general rule is that a top-10 pick will qualify for $10 million of permanent total disability with a $5 million loss-of-value rider. The 10 to 20 picks would be looking at $5 to $7.5 million of PTD and $2 to $3 million in loss of value. Picks in the 20 to 30 pick range would be around $5 million total disability.”
The difference with this situation is that the school is taking this insurance policy out for the players when they don’t have to. Generally, players of Sanders’ and Hunter’s caliber have opted out of non-CFP Bowl games, a practice that has become extremely common in recent years.
Coach Prime ensured that wouldn’t happen with his two guys, who could very easily be selected No. 1 and No. 2 overall at the 2025 NFL Draft. Both Sanders and Colorado athletic director Rick George have said that, it is without a doubt, the highest dollar amount for a college player’s insurance policy—ever. That means we’re talking in the $15 to $20 million range. According to George, it was all Coach Prime’s idea.
“It was his idea that we should get disability insurance for our student athletes for this game to ensure that they play and if there was some kind of injury, that they’d be well taken care of. So we worked together on that. We’re excited about it. We think it’s great that all of our players are playing in the game. That’s what all bowl games should be like.”
Sanders also thanked the University and George personally for “putting their money where their mouth is” when it came time to pay up for the policy.
While he is taking good care of his players, Primetime has retained some of that old-school mentality too. He says that he’s not there just for fun or as a talent showcase: he’s there “to win this football game”. He could not only earn the Buffs their first 10-win season since 2016, but also their first Bowl game win in two decades.
“Well, the purpose is to win the game. It’s like the main course. You know, there’s appetizers and there’s a whole lot of other stuff. So we’re happy to go through what we need to go through to get to what we need to get to. But the young men know what we’re here for. We’re not here for the festivities. We’re not here for all the other things – the tangibles. We’re here to win this football game.”
Unlike what some detractors like to think, this isn’t all a marketing play for Deion Sanders. He does not intend to go anywhere—especially not to the Dallas Cowboys—anytime soon.
He got emotional talking about how this would be his “last game” coaching his sons, Shedeur and Shilo. Both will enter the NFL Draft this spring. However, Neon Deion intends to remain in Boulder long after his boys have moved on to the professional ranks.
“I love Boulder, Colorado. I have every intention, every plan in the world to be coaching for the Colorado Buffs from here on. I want to finish here. I want to put the flag. I want my name on the mountains out there. I want to put my flag down in Colorado.”
Deion Sanders and his full complement of Colorado Buffaloes players will clash with BYO in the Alamo Bowl this Saturday, December 28. Though they are the lower-ranked team, the Buffs enter the matchup in the Alamodome in San Antonio as four-point favorites.
