Deion Sanders Received 'Multiple Threats' Before Colorado-CSU, Bodyguard Says

Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders has been under a spotlight since taking over the Buffaloes program prior to the 2023 season, but sometimes that led to unwanted attention as well.

As Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today relayed, Sanders' bodyguard, Michael Rhodes, appeared on the Coach Prime documentary series on Amazon Prime Video and discussed some of threats the head coach faced throughout the 2024 season.

That included "multiple threats concerning people trying to do harm to Coach" before Colorado's rivalry game against Colorado State on Sept. 14.

Rhodes said he sends death threats Sanders receives to the police and the FBI and added that multiple law enforcement agencies were involved ahead of the Colorado State game.

"I have to keep my head on a swivel," Rhodes said. "I have to keep my eyes open. I really have to watch the crowd, pay attention to everybody's body language, facial expressions, hands, because everybody doesn't love Coach. … With all of the death threats, I don't know who is who. I've got one job, and that's to make sure that Coach is good, to make sure he's safe, so he can go out and coach the team to a victory."

The 2024 game against the Rams was expected to be a heated one considering the 2023 one went into double overtime and featured no shortage of trash talk. That 2023 game also included Colorado State head coach Jay Norvell criticizing Sanders for keeping his hat and sunglasses on during interviews.

That may have motivated the Buffaloes, as Shilo Sanders put on sunglasses while celebrating a pick-six.

Yet the 2024 rematch didn't feature nearly as many fireworks with Colorado cruising to a 28-9 victory in the early stages of a much-improved season. There was the expected trash talk in a rivalry game, but it didn't draw nearly as many national headlines.

One reason for that is it was clear the Buffaloes were a league above the Rams this time around. While Sanders' team went 4-8 in 2023 and struggled throughout the campaign, it took significant strides in 2024 on the way to a 9-4 record.

While the team was celebrating more wins on the field, Rhodes was doing what he needed to behind the scenes to keep the head coach and everyone involved with the program safe.