The Colorado football community honored Deion Sanders on Wednesday night after the influential first-year coach was named Sports Illustrated’s 2023 Sportsperson of the Year last week.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC]
00:10 [APPLAUSE]
00:14 >> How we doing, both nations?
00:16 Let's go, let's have some enthusiasm tonight.
00:20 Sports Illustrated, Amazon Prime Video,
00:24 thank you both for your incredible partnership and
00:30 the celebration tonight of Coach Prime and his football program.
00:34 Let's give them a round of applause.
00:36 >> [APPLAUSE]
00:40 >> I also want to acknowledge our
00:42 Chancellor and his wife, Yvonne, sitting over there.
00:46 Our President, Todd Solomon, and Michelle over there.
00:50 Our Board of Regents are right over there as well.
00:53 We couldn't do it without their support.
00:55 >> [APPLAUSE]
00:57 >> So thank you very much.
01:00 It was almost exactly one year ago when I hired Coach Prime.
01:03 >> [APPLAUSE]
01:05 >> Yep, that deserves applause.
01:08 Boy, was I lucky, right?
01:11 Anyway, I knew we were getting an incredible individual,
01:15 an incredible person, not to mention, in my opinion,
01:20 one of the best head football coaches in this country.
01:23 >> [APPLAUSE]
01:28 >> Since his arrival,
01:30 he has transcended football and his impact on our campus and
01:36 our community is unparalleled.
01:39 No one in the country has generated as much excitement for
01:44 a program that Coach Prime has done and
01:47 leadership in leading our football team.
01:50 Coach, thank you for that.
01:51 >> [APPLAUSE]
01:55 >> The excitement around our program
01:57 is the envy of the nation, and this is where Colorado should
02:01 always be.
02:02 And because of Coach, that envy is out there, and
02:06 the best part of that is we're just getting started.
02:10 >> [APPLAUSE]
02:12 >> We are just getting started.
02:15 So congratulations, Coach Prime, on the Sportsperson of the Year
02:19 honor and for the launch of Season 2 of Coach Prime.
02:24 I can't wait to see that,
02:25 even though I think I've seen a little bit of it.
02:28 But I join our Buff fans in our pride for
02:31 what you've accomplished here in just one year,
02:35 an excitement for an incredible future ahead.
02:38 So looking forward to the future,
02:40 thank all of you for being here tonight.
02:42 Now I'd like to introduce one of the best improv comedians in
02:46 the world, Karen Hammerberg,
02:49 who's the lead creative executive at Prime Video.
02:53 [MUSIC]
03:02 >> Hi, that's true, I did used to do improv at
03:05 the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, and I would tour colleges.
03:09 So that's a little about me.
03:13 Hi, I'm Karen, I'm from Amazon Prime Video.
03:17 Like a couple of folks in the room tonight,
03:20 we did come with Coach from Jackson State to Colorado.
03:25 I don't know if we are considered Louie, but we do ship in a day.
03:30 So we've got that going for us.
03:33 But we're here because we believe.
03:36 >> [APPLAUSE]
03:42 >> Yeah, we believe in what you all are
03:45 doing both on and off the football field here in Colorado.
03:50 And we also believe that people cannot stop talking about what you
03:55 are doing on and off the football field here in Colorado.
03:59 Which I am so excited for you all to see the documentary,
04:05 it really shows the heart behind all of those headlines.
04:11 Tonight we are going to watch episodes two and three.
04:15 And before I introduce the next speaker, I just have a couple of quick thank yous.
04:20 Constance and Anthony at Smack, and Danny and Jose and Sam,
04:24 all of you are so wonderful, thank you.
04:27 >> [APPLAUSE]
04:32 >> Jamie, Micah, Lenka, all of your hard work and your crew,
04:36 all of the crew that's been here all season, thank you.
04:40 Obviously, thank you to Coach Prime.
04:43 Thank you to the coaching staff, thank you to the athletic director.
04:48 Thank you to the support staff, thank you to the players, and
04:52 thank you to all of you, the Colorado fans.
04:55 >> [APPLAUSE]
05:02 >> You let us into your meeting rooms,
05:04 you let us into your locker room, you let us into your hospital room,
05:08 you let us into your homes, you let us on to this campus.
05:12 And I really am so excited for the world to see this story.
05:17 And I think this documentary does such a great job encapsulating
05:22 chapter one of what Coach Prime is doing here in Colorado.
05:26 >> [APPLAUSE]
05:31 >> And now it is my genuine honor to
05:33 introduce you to the CEO of Sports Illustrated, Ross Levinson.
05:37 >> [APPLAUSE]
05:40 [MUSIC]
05:48 >> Hi, everyone, let me see if I got some students here.
05:51 Sco?
05:52 >> [APPLAUSE]
05:56 >> Sco?
05:57 >> [APPLAUSE]
06:00 >> That's pretty good.
06:01 Thank you all.
06:03 First of all, thank you to the Chancellor, the President, Todd,
06:07 Rick George, the entire University of Colorado team.
06:11 You've been amazing, so welcoming.
06:13 This is such a fantastic place.
06:15 I wanna thank the SI team that's here, our Editor-in-Chief,
06:19 Steve Cannella, who along with the staff, chose Coach Prime for
06:23 this incredible honor.
06:25 Chris Perone, our GM, Hillary Dresner, who made tonight happen.
06:29 A huge thank you to Amazon for everything they do,
06:34 everything they ship to my house.
06:36 It's incredible.
06:38 But the programming you're doing is fantastic, and
06:41 we couldn't have a better partner for tonight.
06:45 This is personal for me, I'll get to that in a second.
06:48 And we have so much to celebrate tonight about the coach and
06:54 everything he's doing.
06:56 We could celebrate who he became during his childhood in Florida.
07:02 He made the all-century team in the state of Florida in high school.
07:08 Quite an honor.
07:09 >> [APPLAUSE]
07:14 >> We could celebrate what he did at Florida State.
07:19 We're happier with what he's doing here.
07:21 But we could celebrate that, cuz he was incredible.
07:24 We certainly could celebrate the greatest cornerback in the history of
07:29 professional football.
07:31 >> [APPLAUSE]
07:36 >> As I said to him a few minutes ago,
07:38 as a New York Giant fan, it was really painful.
07:41 >> [LAUGH] >> We could celebrate that he is
07:45 the greatest two-sport athlete of all time.
07:48 >> [APPLAUSE] >> With a little hat tip to Bo Jackson.
07:52 >> [APPLAUSE] >> We could celebrate that he is
07:57 the only person in the history of pro sports to play in a Super Bowl and
08:02 a World Series in the same year.
08:05 >> [APPLAUSE]
08:11 >> And we could celebrate the man he
08:14 became coaching in high school, worked his way up from the very bottom,
08:19 high school football, and he helped start a program, which is incredible.
08:23 We could celebrate his work at Jackson State, but
08:26 I wanna talk about the Buffs.
08:28 >> [APPLAUSE]
08:33 >> Now, I said this is personal for me.
08:36 I have a daughter here who's a junior in the front row here, Skyler.
08:40 >> [APPLAUSE] >> And Skyler and
08:43 a few people have started an Instagram account called SI University Buffs.
08:50 Please go there and follow it.
08:52 We follow all the teams.
08:56 And I've been coming here for three years, watching this program.
08:59 So it was two very long years and one absolutely incredible year.
09:07 And what we wanna celebrate is not Deion the coach.
09:12 We wanna celebrate Deion the man, and that's why we're here.
09:16 >> [APPLAUSE]
09:22 >> We wanna celebrate Deion the mentor.
09:24 We wanna celebrate Deion the change agent.
09:28 We wanna celebrate Deion the family man, the father, the son.
09:35 That's why we're here.
09:37 We wanna celebrate what he has done for this program,
09:41 what he has done for the players, what he has done for this community,
09:46 what he has done for this school and the change in the landscape of this school,
09:51 what he has done to change college football.
09:55 >> [APPLAUSE] >> Full stop.
09:58 >> [APPLAUSE] >> What he does for those around him,
10:03 for this community, for his family, and for all of you.
10:07 That is why Sports Illustrated has chosen him as Sportsperson of the Year.
10:12 It is our biggest honor each year.
10:15 The greatest teams and the greatest athletes in the history of sport
10:20 have been chosen for this award.
10:22 And there isn't a more deserving person than Coach Prime, and
10:26 I couldn't be more excited to be here.
10:29 And this is his seventh time on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and
10:33 certainly the most rewarding.
10:35 And with that, I'd like to celebrate and congratulate Coach Prime.
10:39 Come on up here, we've got a little trophy for you.
10:42 [MUSIC]
10:49 >> Okay, okay, okay.
10:50 [MUSIC]
11:18 Look here, look here, I don't want to take too much of your time.
11:24 But like I told you when I got here, I told you we was coming, okay?
11:31 A lot of folks thought we was tripping, but I told you we meant business.
11:39 And that's straight off the cuff.
11:41 Look here, a lot of people couldn't see.
11:46 A lot of people did not know what we was going to achieve, but I told you, you had to believe.
11:53 Now, I need you to follow me. Let me hear you say, "I believe. I believe. I believe. I believe. I believe."
12:08 [audience shouting]
12:15 [transition music]
12:18 ♪ Oh ♪
12:19 [transition music]
12:21 ♪ Okay, okay, oh ♪
12:22 [transition music]
12:24 ♪ Oh ♪
12:25 [transition music]
12:29 ♪ C-R-U-L-E ♪
12:31 ♪ Tell 'em how's it gonna go, go ♪
12:33 ♪ Tell 'em why they don't know, go ♪
12:35 ♪ Tell 'em why they better go, go ♪
12:37 ♪ Tell 'em how's it gonna go, go ♪
12:39 - Thank you, thank you, thank you.
12:42 Thank you, thank you.
12:44 You guys tried to make me cry.
12:45 'Cause this is the kind of moment that I dreamt of,
12:52 I prayed of.
12:53 Thanks, Prime Video, this is unbelievable.
12:56 Sports Illustrated, you are undarned believable.
12:58 All the dignitaries here, our president, our chancellor,
13:03 Rick, everybody, and they mama, the board of regents,
13:06 everybody over there.
13:07 Thank you for this tremendous opportunity.
13:11 This is undarned believable to me.
13:14 Yeah.
13:17 [audience cheering]
13:20 'Cause as I look upon you, I don't see white,
13:25 I don't see black, I don't see Hispanic,
13:28 I don't see Asian, I don't see rich, I don't see poor.
13:31 I don't see Christian, I don't see not.
13:33 I see buffs.
13:36 [audience cheering]
13:40 And you have been the best set of fans
13:45 that I have ever experienced in my entire life.
13:49 [audience cheering]
13:52 From day one, when Rick George, my dear friend,
13:58 brought me here, you were there.
14:01 For the spring game, you sold us out,
14:06 you were there.
14:07 For the first game, home game, until the last one,
14:12 you sold it out, you were there.
14:14 So my expectation of you from here on,
14:21 that you're gonna be there.
14:25 Rick, I don't know when these spring game tickets go on,
14:29 but I'm pretty sure they're gonna sell it out
14:31 because I believe that they're gonna be there.
14:36 To all the team, I thank you, you are wonderful.
14:39 I cannot wait 'til they get the chance to see you up close.
14:42 I know we are intrusive and invasive with the cameras
14:45 all over campus and some things that we're doing.
14:48 I just heard the rumor, I had just heard this
14:49 for the first time, that they say you could tell
14:51 where I am because you'll see all the cameras on campus.
14:55 That's the first time I heard that.
14:56 And I'm thankful, Constance, Mike, Sam,
15:00 the whole team, Jose, the whole SMAC family, thank you.
15:04 My crazy sons, all three of you guys, I thank you as well.
15:09 Team, everybody's a part of the team,
15:13 will you stand up please?
15:15 Stand up, everybody's part of the team.
15:18 Coaches, as well as administrators,
15:32 I wanna thank you because regardless of the wins,
15:35 regardless of the losses, you never gave up.
15:39 And that is so admirable.
15:41 And the one who never gives up,
15:43 and she told me something that was so vital
15:45 that changed my life, she said,
15:46 "Regardless of whatever the score is,
15:48 "she will not leave until the last second
15:50 "ticks off the clock."
15:51 And that's the finest, most beautiful,
15:53 most sexiest woman in this house, and that's Peggy.
15:57 (audience cheering)
16:00 It is my challenge to all you Buffs fans,
16:19 it's my challenge to that whole entire team,
16:22 it's my challenge to the coaching staff,
16:24 it's my challenge to the support staff,
16:27 Amazon Prime, Prime Video, it's my challenge
16:29 to Sports Illustrated that we're gonna get Peggy
16:33 to a bowl game next season.
16:35 (audience cheering)
16:38 But we're gonna need you to do it.
16:42 Thank you, Sports Illustrated, I had no idea
16:44 this was the seventh cover, I thank you.
16:46 Let's make it eight.
16:47 Next season, let's make it eight.
16:51 I appreciate you, all the media from around
16:54 and through and near and far, I thank you,
16:56 you've been kind, you've been pleasant,
16:58 you haven't been ignorant, a couple of y'all have,
17:00 but you know, I understand.
17:02 But the rest of y'all, we good, we good.
17:05 I appreciate you all.
17:09 We love you back, I love you back, I love you back.
17:11 This, these videos, I cannot wait 'til you see it,
17:14 it helps us recruit, it helps us,
17:17 these guys get the followers, and these guys
17:19 get the notoriety and the love and the support they need.
17:21 I cannot wait 'til you see what we assemble.
17:24 I wish we could do this for our wonderful team,
17:28 I would be remiss if I didn't say nothing
17:30 about our wonderful basketball teams.
17:32 Yeah.
17:33 (audience cheering)
17:34 Our men and women's basketball team that plays right here
17:38 are unbelievable, I thank you, I thank them.
17:41 They are crazy, please come out and support them,
17:44 because they are strictly awesome.
17:47 Please support them, and maybe we need to do
17:51 our own documentary about the basketball team,
17:53 the women's and men's.
17:55 Bucky, you with that, can you pull that out, son?
17:58 Got you, hey, God bless you, my man, I appreciate you.
18:02 I really do, I appreciate you.
18:04 Let's get this on, 'cause I can't wait to see this myself.
18:08 (audience cheering)
18:11 (audience applauding)
18:14 (audience cheering)
18:17 (audience cheering)
18:20 (audience applauding)
18:23 [BLANK_AUDIO]