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Miss Peggy means “everything” to Coach Prime
Deion Sanders has provided Boulder with so much in his first 18 months as Colorado’s head coach. Prime brought national attention, star recruits, and most impressively, on-field success to the Buffs since taking the Colorado job. But perhaps the most special thing we’ve seen bloom from Deion thus far in Boulder is his relationship with CU superfan Miss Peggy Coppom.
If you’re familiar with Colorado football, you’re well aware of Miss Peggy. She’s been a CU legend for decades, showing up to Buffaloes football and basketball games with her twin sister Betty in their matching yellow CU sweaters since the 1940s.
Rain or shine, good season or bad, you could bet that Betty and Peggy would be in attendance to support the Buffs. The two quickly become staples of Colorado athletics and local celebrities.
When Betty passed away prior to the 2020 season, Peggy’s love for the Buffs stayed as intense as ever. She witnessed Colorado hit rock bottom in 2022 and was elated when athletic director Rick George pulled off hiring the NFL Hall of Famer to coach the Buffs. When Sanders took the job, he quickly learned about Miss Peggy and made a personal home visit to meet her.
Since then, the two have become an unlikely dynamic duo. Peggy ran out with Deion during Colorado’s spring game in 2023, there’s been many phone calls between the two, but the most powerful moment between Coach Prime and Miss Peggy was when he promised her that Colorado would make a bowl game in 2024, dedicating the season to her.
When Colorado accomplished that goal after beating the Cincinnati Bearcats in October, CU put this message on the video board:
Unfortunately, Miss Peggy couldn’t be in attendance for the bowl-clinching win since she was recovering from COVID-19 at the time. Deion Sanders and Rick George made sure she got a phone call from the team right away after they got back to the locker room:
Coach Prime and Colorado make a call to Miss Peggy after fulfilling the milestone of getting her to a Bowl Gamepic.twitter.com/l8SehaBcJC
— GUCCE (@gucceCU) October 27, 2024
Now that the goal of getting Miss Peggy to a bowl game has been accomplished, Sanders and the Buffs are switching gears. Sitting at a record of 7-2, Colorado’s aspirations have grown. CU controls its own destiny in the Big 12 title race and has a clear path to making it to the College Football Playoffs, along with the national championship game. With the bowl game goal behind them, they’re aiming higher.
“We were not trying to get [Miss Peggy] to the bowl game now,” said Sanders in his weekly presser this Tuesday. “We’re trying to get here to THE game.”
THE game is something that Miss Peggy, and a lot of other Colorado fans, haven’t seen since 1990, when CU beat Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl to win a national championship. To get back to that point, Sanders and the Buffs will continue to use Miss Peggy as fuel.
“Miss Peggy, in her own tremendous, loving way gives all of us hope,” said Sanders. “She gives all of us that unspeakable joy, that love, that respect.”
Although the two became friends only relatively recently, it doesn’t feel that way to Sanders. If two people as different as Deion Sanders and Miss Peggy can become fast friends as they’ve done, that proves that anything is possible.
“You know how many decades we were apart?” asked Sanders. “But we still found one another. I thank god for that.”
Ahead of her 100th birthday in mid-November, the essence of Miss Peggy’s youthful spirit and energy has been flowing throughout Colorado’s facility. Winning for Peggy is something that Deion Sanders has wanted to do since his arrival in Boulder, and now they’re doing just that.
“Peggy is just like that, man,” said Sanders. “She gives me so much energy every darn time I see her.”
When asked what Miss Peggy means to him, Deion Sanders replied with just one word.
“Everything.”
The Buffs have the opportunity to give Miss Peggy a perfect birthday present this weekend; a home win over the Utah Utes on Saturday. If the Buffs keep winning, there’s no telling how far they can go. Wherever they go, you can rest assured that Miss Peggy will be there for the entire ride.
by RylandScholes
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