After his Colorado team had shocked everyone in college -- except itself -- last Saturday with a dazzling, 45-42 upset-win at TCU, Deion Sanders was headed to the Buffaloes' charter jet back to Boulder, Colorado, when a player handed him his cell phone.
That player was wideout Jimmy Horn Jr., who was on the phone with his father -- who had reached out to his son from prison. Horn Jr. had just compiled an 11-catch, 117-yard, one-touchdown effort in his debut with the Buffaloes.
"One of the best moments that I had on Saturday, Jimmy was getting on the plane and he said, ‘Hey, Man, my pops, I got perfect timing, my pops is on the phone,’" Sanders told CBS News Colorado's Romi Bean, during a segment of the "Coach Prime's Playbook" show. "And you know Jimmy’s pop is incarcerated. But, just to have a conversation with his father, and his father said, ‘You told us you were going to take care of him, you were going to look out for him,’ and his father was so happy and elated."
Added Horn Jr, "Because with Coach Prime, he reminds me so much of my pops and then when I had them two talk, my dad was really happy to talk to him because (Deion Sanders) stood on everything he said he was going to do. So he’s taking care of me and making sure I’m good mentally, physically and emotionally. So, he’s doing his part and he’s doing everything he said.
"Coach Prime is a man of his word. My pop’s a man of his word. That’s why it’s only right that I’m here."
Sanders recalled the moment as crucial in his role as a coach caring for his players.
"That’s what you look for," Coach Prime told Bean. "That’s what you want. But to have that conversation as he was getting on the plane, and him also being affirmed by his father, that does a lot.
"That does a lot for a young man."
Colorado, which galloped into the AP Top 25 this week at No. 22, hosts former Big 12 rival Nebraska Saturday at noon in the first home game at Folsom Field for Sanders atop the Buffaloes' program.