Not a Happy New Year for Deion Sanders and Colorado Buffaloes. Their Alamo Bowl and Shedeur and Shilo’s last feat turned out to be a big flop. The BYU Cougars landed a 14-36 defeat on Deion’s boys. Just when the Buffs thought that was all for the beginning of the year, an even more devastating news came their way. This time, the loss felt personal.

After all, Coach Prime lost a person close to his heart, who, till now, had protected him. Not just Deion, but his son Deion Sanders Jr. too poured his tribute on the heartbreaking incident.   

Deion Sanders lost a dedicated and loyal member

The 2024 season ended on a sweet note. The Buffs dual-threat Travis Hunter gifted the program the best gift bagging the Heisman Trophy. But deep down, Deion was prepared for what he might face in 2025. He was making himself used to the fact that he will now be returning to an empty nest as his sons, along with Hunter, will soon be off to the NFL. Unfortunately, Deion was not prepared for this. Thursday, January 2, turned out to be an ominous day for the Buffs fam. Deion got the devastating news of Lieutenant Evis McGee passing away. He was a member of the Buffs HC’s security team. Deion took some time to accustom with the loss. Finally, he poured his tribute to his close personnel.

On January 4, Colorado Football came up with an IG post. They posted a picture in black and white of Deion and we could spot McGee in his character, walking by Deion’s side, all alert. The caption had Coach Prime’s message as it read, “Lt. McGee was one of the most loyal and faithful men that I’ve had a pleasure of working with. His consistency & commitment to his family, friends and faith was truly commendable. LT will be missed. God Bless his wife and kids.” Now this surely is feeling like losing your long-time friend.

That’s because McGee has been part of Deion’s security team dating back to his time at Jackson State. All through these years, he has worked with utmost sincerity giving the top most protection to the Buffs HC. After all, we know how threats are a constant in Deion’s life.    

Deion Sanders Jr. stirred by the loss

Remember when Deion paid a visit as a guest lecturer at a school back in February? That’s when he shared the struggles he faces daily. He shed light on the fact that how holding the head coaching role is no cakewalk, and it comes with a lot of security challenges and d- – – h threats. He shared, “We get death threats, so you know, we have to bring security. I’m dead serious, too; I’m not lying.” 

Even on the field, his personnel had to be on full alert mode. Not just Deion but his family members too are prone to heated confrontations. The most recent example is Jr. aka Bucky’s tense moment during the Colorado-Texas Tech game. The incident is the prime example of how things escalate super-fast on the gridiron. For instance, that particular game where Jr. pushed and cursed at a Texas Tech ball boy. That’s when security comes in between before matters go out of hand. 

So Deion Sanders Jr. too knows how his father felt safe in Evis McGee’s presence. He reshared a tweet by a JSU player who wrote, “ Gonna miss you bro!  Love ya forever nig… The soft spoken assassin The afterlife needed a bodyguard 🕊️🕊️.” To which Bucky wrote, “RIP my brother.” Meanwhile, Deion Sanders’ defensive back Cam’Ron Simon-Craig too poured his tribute, “RIP OFFICER MCGEE 🕊️.” This departure created a chasm too deep to bridge.