Deion Sanders shares emotional conversation with Jimmy Horn Jr. during Colorado State game
Deion Sanders has not been shy to have a heart to heart on the sidelines with one of his Colorado players during a game so far this season. The latest beneficiary was wideout Jimmy Horn Jr.
TV cameras caught Sanders delivering a message to Horn in the second half of Colorado’s double overtime win against Colorado State. After a brief pep talk, the two embraced before Horn later caught the game-tying touchdown near the end of regulation.
Sanders explained what he said to Horn in an interview with Taylor Rooks this week.
“It uplifts them and it motivates them. We had an instance on the sideline this last game with Jimmy. Was having a horrific game as a receiver, Jimmy Horn,” Sanders said. “And I said, ‘Jimmy, you a dog. You from Florida, man. Guess what? Pop is in the crib, and he’s incarcerated watching you right now. And he wants to clap in front of all his different inmates because he believes in his son. We gone make Pop proud tonight. That’s what we gone do. Because his son is a dog. Now you go out there and show the world who you are.’ And went and caught the touchdown, the game-tying touchdown.”
Horn finished with seven catches, including the game-tying touchdown.
Sanders continued, explaining it’s just a matter of meeting his players where they are. And further, it helps that he feels he can know and relate to them on a deep level.
“Just speaking life into Jimmy and understanding where he was — I’ve been there. Because I sympathize and empathize with him and I know his background and his situation, so I’m able to pull that intangible out of him, that I connect to him in a pivotal time like that,” Sanders said. “I gotta know my kids.”
Sanders said the Colorado State win showed him something about his team
Sanders revealed what the win over the Rams showed him about his team in his interview with Rooks.
“Resilience. Resilience because, first of all, you have two magnificent wins back-to-back of that nature,” said Sanders. “Then how will you try to keep the team rocking steady? Because not everyone in the locker room, including coaches, has won in their careers and in their lives, so you. So you gotta sense that, and you gotta fill that. You gotta try to find a common thread to bring everybody and keep everybody together as one. Don’t let no one get too high or too low; bring them all together.
“But you know some are going to go out there well beyond the point because they’ve never seen this much attention or this much focus, this much love, or this many followers in one week. And you know sooner or later you’re going to have a hiccup; I knew we would have a hiccup. I wanted to beat them down and blow them out, but I knew as a coach, the way we practiced, the way we prepared that week, we gon have to fight.”