Deion Sanders’ Saturday pregame tour leading up to Colorado’s rivalry matchup against Colorado State was filled with surprises, with the Buffaloes’ head coach revisiting Jay Norvell’s sunglasses comments, bowing down to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and even gifting a jersey to Lil Wayne.
The build-up to Saturday night’s game had already begun when ESPN’s “College GameDay” selected Boulder, Colo., as its host site — following Colorado’s wins against then-No. 17 TCU and Nebraska — for the week, but Norvell added to that when he called out Sanders for not removing his sunglasses and hats during press conferences like “my mother taught me.”
And on “GameDay,” when asked by Pat McAfee about those comments again, Sanders — who previously said that Norvell had made the game personal — responded by saying Norvell criticized him personally because there hasn’t been much to criticize about the Buffaloes through their first two games.
“When you’re so right, you gotta find some wrong,” Sanders said. “We are so right right now. You’ve got to find some wrong, and if you could just search and go through this, you can’t talk about the kids. You can’t talk about the coaches. You can’t talk about the way we play.
“You gotta come at me personally, and you gotta find some wrong.”
Sanders also hinted that his mother might be a part of his pregame speech Saturday, though it’s unclear if he meant that she’d be a reference in the speech or if she’d actually be in the Colorado locker room and give the speech.
In an appearance on “Big Noon Kickoff” on Fox, Sanders was asked how he’d shake Norvell’s hand following the game, and he then proceeded to take off his hat and sunglasses and then shake one of the analyst’s hands.
Sanders also presented a Colorado jersey to Lil Wayne — with the No. 17 across the front and back — during a pregame show on the campus, helping the rapper put the jersey on while pumping up the crowd around him.
Also, during his interview on “GameDay,” Sanders was stunned when Johnson walked onto the set to his WWE entrance music.
Sanders rose from his chair at the set, got on a knee, took off his hat and started bowing down to Sanders.
“That’s my guy,” Sanders said as Johnson walked onto the set. “That’s my guy. That’s my guy.”
Sanders, who noted that he’s sold $1.2 million in sunglasses since the Norvell comments went viral, revealed that he makes people nervous because he’s “willing to step outside the box and consistently be me.”
It became evident in Week 1 when he flashed the receipts he saved and called out a reporter in a press conference for the “bull-junk” that doubted his Buffaloes.
Then, his son, Shedeur Sanders, claimed Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule disrespected his father, too, even though the former Panthers head coach denied that.
Still, it kept building momentum for Sanders heading into Saturday’s game.
The environment on campus — with “GameDay,” with “Big Noon Kickoff,” with Lil Wayne, with everything else that comes with Sanders’ aura — would’ve been buzzing anyway.
And then Norvell’s comments only added to it.
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