Deion Sanders was named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year, and obviously, many are baffled. After all, his Colorado team finished 4-8, and he’s talked out of both sides of his mouth more than he’s won on the football field. But I’m here to play devil’s advocate a bit, and I’ll tell you why Pat Forde and SI can justify this.
First, remind me of the last time you gave a crap about Colorado football. Was it the 1990s when they were good? Kordell Stewart’s Hail Mary? At best, it was in the mid-1990s that anyone cared a bit about CU football. But this season, with Deion Sanders at the helm, Colorado became interesting — and became appointment television.
And let’s not forget how Colorado immediately became interesting to the Big 12 as not only an expansion target, but their No. 1 expansion target. The move to the Big 12 is all due to Deion, and the hundreds of millions of dollars the university will gain from the move can’t be discounted. Colorado became interesting to the general public, the diehard, and to the Big 12 all because of the hire of Coach Prime. That alone could be worth Sportsperson of the Year.
Add in three more wins than the 2022 season, and you can add more fire to the argument. Sanders has also changed the approach to the transfer portal and, love him or hate him, become the No. 1 sound bite in college football each week — from Boulder, Colorado. That’s somewhat impressive.
Now, let’s be clear — I don’t agree with this pick at all. If it were to be a college football personality, I’d go with Kirby Smart and his amazing winning streak or Nick Saban and the revival of his team from the beginning of the season. Or perhaps Marvin Harrison Jr. is arguably the best WR prospect in college football since Calvin Johnson and one of the most humble and nicest young men in a college football era or bling and loudmouths (like Deion ironically). But this isn’t just for clicks or clout, as has been suggested. A true case can be made that Deion Sanders not only became the talk of college football, but the talk of the entire sports world all year long. And perhaps that’s worthy of Sportsperson of the Year.
