Colorado coach Deion Sanders has made a name for himself in the college football world and is become a Buffaloes icon in just a matter of three seasons, but the former NFL player has also become a polarizing figure to some. And, according to his security team, he’s been subjected to multiple threats because of it.
In the latest season of the “Coach Prime” docuseries which aired on Prime Video earlier this week, Sanders’ personal security, officer Michael Rhodes, revealed that Sanders received a “very credible threat” before a game during the 2024 season.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, center, takes the field with his team before the Alamo Bowl NCAA college football game against BYU, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
“Coach gets a lot of mail every day, a lot of packages — a lot of gifts,” Rhodes said in the second episode as he put on gloves in preparation of reviewing Sanders’ mail.
“As he stated publicly, he gets a lot of death threats, a lot of hate mail, so just as a precaution, we go through the mail very carefully. Put on these gloves just to ensure that we don’t come into contact with any type of hazardous material.”
Rhodes said he served as a member of Jackson State’s campus police for around 10 years when he was asked to be a member of Sander’s security detail during his tenure there. When Sanders was offered the job at Colorado, he asked Rhodes to join him.
Since then, Rhodes has had his hands full.
Head Coach Deion Sanders of the University of Colorado Buffs walks off the field with his security detail after the University of Colorado Buffs defeat the Arizona State Sun Devils at Mountain America Stadium on Oct. 7, 2023 in Tempe, Arizona. (Bruce Yeung/Getty Images)
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He said in the episode that before a Sept. 14 game against Colorado State, they received “multiple threats concerning people trying to do harm to Coach.”
“There was a very credible threat — two individuals trying to possibly tackle Coach either before, during, or after the game,” he continued. “So we had to have multiple law enforcement agencies there — SWAT team, CSUPD as well as Boulder PD.”
Rhodes said during games he keeps his head “on a swivel” watching for any potential threats in the crowd and around the stadium.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders watches from the sideline during the first half of the Alamo Bowl NCAA college football game against BYU, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
“Everybody doesn’t love Coach. With all of the death threats, I don’t know who is who. I’ve got one job, and that’s to make sure that Coach is good, to make sure he’s safe, so that he can go out and coach the team to a victory.”
The Buffaloes closed out the 2024 season on a high note despite a blowout loss to BYU in the Alamo last month.
Colorado made their first Bowl game appearance since 2020 and sold out every home game for the past two seasons — a first in the program’s 134-year history. Travis Hunter won the Heisman Trophy, and he and Shedeur Sanders are expected to be first-round draft picks in the 2025 NFL Draft in April.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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