Deion Sanders does it like no one else. He can charm a locker room, win over recruits, and light up a press conference. He can even reject gifts if he wants to, like he did to his own son. He’s got charisma bottled up to the brim. But this weekend, before the Colorado vs. Iowa State clash, Coach Prime met his match in a pint-sized Colorado fan. And she wasn’t wearing shoulder pads. 

It happened pregame. The ever-confident Deion Sanders, rocking his signature swagger, spotted a young Colorado fan in the stands and decided to make her day. He handed her his own hat, a Coach Prime original, a moment caught on camera by Romi Bean and posted to Instagram on October 11. But the thing is, she rejected it. The clip, captioned “Coach Prime gives his hat to a young girl… but she’s not interested in wearing it 😂 Dad keeps trying, but she ain’t having it 😭” instantly went viral, proving not even Prime’s charisma is 100% foolproof.

Twice. Her dad, clearly starstruck, tried to coax her into wearing the legendary cap. Yet the little one wasn’t buying the ‘Prime Time’ pitch. She yanked it off both times, her face saying what no fan would dare say out loud, “Thanks, but no thanks.” And maybe, just maybe, this moment with that little girl wasn’t rejection; it was a reflection for Deion Sanders.

Because not long ago, Deion Sanders himself was on the receiving end of a “thanks, but no thanks.” Remember August? His son Shilo Sanders tried to gift him his first NFL jersey after debuting with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on his 58th birthday, no less. The Hall of Famer unexpectedly turned it down. “He didn’t want it,” Shilo said. “He’s a Hall of Famer. He expects like 30 times more.” Still, these rejection stories couldn’t overshadow Coach Prime’s grit. 

Deion Sanders displays tough resilience 

Just days before, Deion Sanders had undergone surgery to remove blood clots in his leg. Four days later, he was back on the sideline, standing tall in the drizzle at Folsom Field without a stool or an excuse. ESPN cameras even caught an assistant trailing him with a seat just in case. But the man who built his brand on resilience wasn’t sitting for anyone.

Deion Sanders’ health battles are well-documented. 16 surgeries, two amputated toes, and even a bladder removal earlier this year. Yet there he was, pacing the sideline like it was the Super Bowl, refusing to slow down while his Buffs trailed 10–7 before halftime. But just as the rejects learn, the HC’s story always ends the same. He gets back up, keeps moving, and finds a way to win. By the second half, that same fire spread to his team. Colorado, a program that couldn’t finish games for weeks, flipped the script, outplaying No. 22 Iowa State and snagging its first top-25 win since the 2023 opener.

Turns out, Coach Prime doesn’t need every fan to wear his hat. He just needs his team to play like they wear his heart.