NFL legend Deion Sanders has turned the Colorado Buffaloes into one of college football’s biggest brands. The program now identifies itself as a Big 12 powerhouse with top talents from across the country transferring to play under Coach Prime.
Colorado safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig reiterated this notion during his team’s pregame presser for the Alamo Bowl, where the Buffaloes will take on BYU on Dec. 28.
Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig Claims Colorado’s Future Is Bright Under Deion Sanders
For the first time since 2020, the Buffaloes will play in a bowl game at San Antonio. That’s largely thanks to Sanders, who transformed a program that was 1-11 in 2022 into a 9-3 contender with championship aspirations in 2025.
The process have already started with Coach Prime marketing the university’s ambitious plans to high-profile recruits. Senior safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig backed Sanders’ goals when he expressed his expectations from Colorado’s future athletes.
Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig on this senior class setting the standard for the future of CU Football:
“They’re building something here; we’re really building something. We are the guys that you’ll remember that started this.” pic.twitter.com/l6nbFptrDK
— DNVR Buffs (@DNVR_Buffs) December 26, 2024
“I always, I talked to the new, coming freshmen, the early enrollees, guys all the time, just because they’re building something here, we’re really building something on; we are the guys that you remember that started this,” Silmon-Craig said.
“So it’s so when they get to win, it’s like, okay, that’s the time for us to come back and be like, ‘Man, we started out this for y’all.’ You know I’m saying? That’s what I always think about because I know one day it’s gonna happen for us. So I just make sure I pass that standard down.
“It’s very important for these coming guys, you guys are like, it’s a difference for me, because the guys that came in and December, like the early enrollees, I can just tell they’re different. I can tell there’s a different mentality than, like, when me and Jimmy (Horn Jr.) were coming to Boulder.”
2025 NFL Draft Will Feature Top Prospects From Colorado
Silmon-Craig followed Coach Prime’s footsteps from Jackson State to Colorado in 2023. He is a senior who will bid farewell to the program on Satuday. He’ll hope a strong pre-draft circuit boosts his stock in time for April, and he won’t be alone.
Jimmy Horn Jr., Will Sheppard, Travis Hunter, and Shedeur Sanders are among the Buffaloes expected to be taken in the 2025 NFL Draft. Hunter and Sanders could very well be top-five picks.
Hunter’s Heisman Trophy win, complemented by Biletnikoff and Bednarik Awards, encapsulated one of college football’s most memorable seasons. Paired with Sanders, who won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm award as the nation’s top senior passer, the duo helped put Colorado on the map.
Next, they’ll hope to be added to the list of Buffaloes to make an impact in the NFL.