It has become customary in college football for NFL Draft-bound players to skip bowl games in an effort to avoid unnecessary injury, but Colorado head coach Deion Sanders is having none of that under his watch.
On Friday, Sanders revealed that all of his star players, from Shedeur Sanders to Travis Hunter, will suit up for the bowl-bound Buffaloes and suggested other teams should take note.
"Our kids are going to play in our bowl game… we're not going to tap out… there's a couple of teams that could take note."@CUBuffsFootball's @DeionSanders confirms his players will participate in a bowl game this season ⬇️🎳 pic.twitter.com/0OFClTdcDg
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 30, 2024
“Our kids are going to play in our bowl game because that’s what we signed up to do and we’re going to finish,” Sanders said on Friday. “We’re not going to tap out, because that throws off the structure of next season.
“There’s a couple teams that should take note. They laid an egg in the bowl game and they haven’t recovered since. We don’t plan on doing that. We plan on going out there fighting just like we fought today regardless of where we are.”
Although he didn’t mention them by name, Sanders’ former college team, the Florida State Seminoles, sat their starters in the New Year’s Six Orange Bowl appearance against the Georgia Bulldogs last December and were defeated, 63-3. Any momentum they carried was lost to start this season and they’re now dead last in the ACC with a 2-9 record.
Lessons learned.
But there is one thing Sanders laments, and that’s his inability to pick the bowl location.
“I wish we had say so in the bowl because I want to go somewhere near that our fanbase could get there economically,” he said. “Because I care about them just that much. . . They show up and show out.”
Sanders expressed a “love” for Colorado fans, saying he’s seen it go “from nothing to something.” And that’s a message his players will carry with them as they take the field in whatever bowl game they end up playing.
You have to respect it.
