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Hall of Fame pass catcher Michael Irvin dropped by Boulder this week to check out the Colorado football team. He sent a strong message to Deion Sanders’ bunch about the upcoming season.
The former NFL star preached the importance of “team” while emphasizing the fact that many want to see the Buffaloes fail under Coach Prime. He told players to prove the naysayers wrong.
Irvin and Sanders played together in the NFL for five seasons as members of the Dallas Cowboys. Leading a star-studded team, the pair won a Super Bowl in the 1995-96 season, the most recent championship in the organization’s history.
On Wednesday, the two reunited with Irvin lending some advice to Sanders’ squad moving forward.
“Why is our sport different?” Irvin asked. “In football, you don’t do anything by yourself. It’s always about the man next to you.” The message coincides with the ‘team first’ culture that Coach Prime has been instilling this offseason.
Irvin then went on to speak about the Colorado doubters, and those that want to see the Buffs fail under Deion Sanders.
“This season, you’re going to get a lot of eyes. You think you want these eyes? You think you’re ready for these eyes? Because these eyes that are looking on you, guys, they’re looking to see the first mistake, the first bad anything. That’s why you’ve got to play together.
“Nobody’s looking at you like, ‘Oh, we want to see them do great.’ They’re looking to say, ‘We want to see them fail.’ Make sure they don’t get what they want.”
Michael Irvin stressed an ‘Us vs. The World’ mentality as not many outside of Colorado have high expectations for the program. In fact, ESPN predicted the Buffs to be the worst team in college football this 2023 season.
It won’t be easy as CU faces a brutal slate in the coming year. A Week 1 trip to TCU kicks off the season before the Buffaloes host Nebraska and instate rival Colorado State.
Then, PAC-12 play begins with matchups against No. 15 Oregon and No. 6 USC.
“The moments that most would run from, you must run to, if you want greatness,” Irvin closed. “It is set up right now for you to shock the world.”