Deion Sanders spent Monday talking football, but the legal noise around his program kept showing up in the conversation.
With Colorado set to open the 2026 season next week at Georgia Tech, Sanders was asked about the lawsuits and court matters that have recently put his name in the headlines. One of them involves a graphic designer who says he created several of Sanders’ personal brand logos. The more immediate issue for Colorado, though, is the subpoena that a Boulder County Sheriff Office deputy tried to serve Sanders nearly two weeks ago, calling on him to testify at his son Shilo’s bankruptcy trial next week.
That trial is scheduled for Aug. 31 through Sept. 4, while CU is set to play at Georgia Tech on Sept. 3 and leave for Atlanta on Sept. 1. Sanders’ attorney, Harvey Steinberg, has already filed a motion to quash the subpoena.
Shilo Sanders, a former CU safety, filed for bankruptcy in 2023 after being hit with an $11.89 million judgement in a civil case brought by John Darjean, a former school security guard who said Shilo left him with permanent injuries after an alleged assault in 2015. Darjean received a default judgement in 2022 after Shilo did not appear in court, and next week’s trial is aimed at dismissing that judgement as part of the bankruptcy case.
Sanders, meanwhile, made a claim about his son’s legal situation that does not line up with the trial now on deck.
“You know Shilo won this case previously,” Sanders said. “Anybody know that?
Raise your hand if you knew that. That Shilo got awarded money for this?
I can’t wait ‘til it’s over and he gets to tell his story. He already won this case.”
What he may have been referring to is a settlement that was not disclosed in 2019, when Shilo Sanders sued his former school and its founder over damages from the same 2015 incident. That settlement, however, has no impact on the Denver trial set to begin next week.
Sanders also took a broader view of being sued, treating it as part of the territory that comes with his level of visibility.
“When you have it, when you him, when you that, you get sued,” Sanders said. “You have off-the-field foolishness that if someone really sat down and explained it to you, you’d say, ‘You gotta be kidding me.’
But it is what it is. I don’t know anyone that’s a game-changer or win-maker that is not dealing with some type of lawsuit.”
Colorado also got a ruling Monday on the field-related side of its roster picture. Defensive lineman Ezra Christensen’s appeal for an injunction that would have made him eligible this season was denied.
A transfer from New Mexico State, Christensen was expected to be one of the top pieces on CU’s defensive front after arriving in Colorado last winter. His path to football has been unusual: he moved to San Diego from Sierra Leone during high school and picked up the sport for the first time there.
Christensen played one season at San Diego Mesa College, then two at Fresno State before transferring to New Mexico State, where he earned first team all-conference honors last year. He had been seeking a fifth year of eligibility, and his attorney is expected to file an emergency appeal in an effort to overturn Monday’s ruling.
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Former Alabama RB Richard Young Faces Another Frustrating Setback At Colorado
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Running backs coach Johnnie Mack said Young is making progress in learning the system, which at least gives Colorado a path forward as camp and the season approach. Still, the missed time leaves his role for 2026 very much up in the air, and the Buffaloes will have to wait a little longer to see how much of an impact he can make once he is fully available. [Read more 🡒]