Whether for practice or in games, wearing a sharp-looking jersey is always a good feeling — and the Colorado Buffaloes, led by head coach Deion Sanders, can confidently say that.
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In one of the more unique moves that college football has seen in the name, image, and likeness (NIL) era, Sanders is allowing players to wear jerseys with their social media account handles on the back.
We got a firsthand look at these, thanks to the Buffaloes' TikTok account.
@cubuffsfootball We heating up 🔥 #gobuffs #skobuffs #cubuffsfootball #coloradofootball #fallcamp #collegefootballtiktok
As you can see in the video, Sanders' son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, had his handle — @ShedeurSanders — clearly on his back. He has over 1.4 million followers on social media across all outlets.
Want to know how to follow your favorite Buffs? Easy. Colorado players have their social handles on the back of their practice jerseys. pic.twitter.com/7n8GoV7KR9
— Romi Bean (@Romi_Bean) August 2, 2023
The world of college football has included many elements concerning NIL, and this is the latest showing of that.
For younger fans, this could be seen as an excellent gesture by Sanders and could serve as a future recruiting tool to draw talent to a program that won just one game last season before Sanders came in. For older, more traditional fans, the move could be seen as a money grab that focuses on the individual players rather than the team or program as a whole. Regardless of the stance taken, the practice jerseys have resulted in plenty of people talking about the creative move from the program.
Despite having yet coached a game for the soon-to-be Big 12 program, Sanders has been in the news constantly over his less-than-traditional methods. His practices have even sparked controversy with players claiming that they have been throwing up multiple times a day during and after practice because of the speed and intensity at which they're being run. Meanwhile, the Buffaloes have seen an unprecedented mass exodus of players through the transfer portal under Sanders, while receiving an influx of talent from various schools to try and compete in the Pac-12 right away.
Sanders is joining the program after an impressive run of success at Jackson State, leading to a 23-3 record and perfect 16-0 in conference play over two seasons.
The Buffaloes' season kicks off Sept. 2 against the TCU Horned Frogs, the runner-up from last season's championship game.
