Colorado football coach Deion Sanders and his Buffaloes have hijacked the national spotlight for the first month of the college football season, garnering the best television ratings in the country while attracting new celebrity fans from NBA legends Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to rappers like DaBaby and Lil Wayne.
His top players, including son and quarterback Shedeur, rank among the highest-earning college athletes in endorsements, while Coach Prime has been the subject of countless television segments, such as a recent 60 Minutes piece – his second.
So, for one to be oblivious to Neon Deion’s cultural impact they would need to be spending their time under a rock or, as it turns out, a Serbian horse stable.
As Denver Nuggets fans can already guess, this eliminates NBA Finals MVP Nikola Jokic from the Sanders’ growing list of admirers.
When asked at Monday’s media day if he was aware of Sanders and the 3-2 Buffaloes, the native Serbian and obsessive horse enthusiast simply responded: ‘Sorry.’
Deion Sanders’ Buffaloes have led the nation in television ratings so far this season, but that doesn’t mean a thing to Nikola Jokic, a Serbian native obsessed with horse racing
Is it possible that the Jokic – arguably the highest-profile athlete in Colorado – could be unaware of the cultural phenomenon going on in Boulder?
For starters, Jokic isn’t on social media, so he’s clearly missing out on Sanders’ weekly back-and-forth with opposing coaches and the college football establishment.
And the married father obviously had other items on his off-season agenda, such as spending time with his two-year-old daughter.
Furthermore, after guiding the Nuggets to their first NBA title with a Finals win over the Miami Heat, Jokic retreated to his native Serbia, where he relished in his favorite pastime: harness racing.
‘I just fell in love with the horses,’ Jokic told The Athletic in 2020.
‘I just enjoy being around them and seeing their different characteristics,’ he said. ‘You get to see when they work out that they are basically like us. They are athletes, sprinters. They are magnificent creatures.’
Jokic’s return home was anticipated by locals as a billboard was made for the Nuggets star
Jokic was pictured in June with his wife, Natalija (right), watching a harness race in Sombor
Rappers like Lil Wayne (left) and DaBaby (right) have been seen at recent Colorado games
Paul Pierce (left) and Kevin Garnett (right) attended Saturday’s Colorado-USC game
He even invited teammate Aaron Gordon to watch the races in his hometown of Sombor.
Jokic’s teammates, however, are quite familiar with Sanders and the upstart Buffaloes. A group of players recently attended a game in Boulder, and Canadian-born Jamal Murray told reporters on Monday that he was very much aware of what Coach Prime was doing at Colorado.
The Nuggets open their preseason on October 10 in Phoenix.
Sanders and his injury-ravaged Buffaloes are back in action on Saturday at Arizona State.
