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Peggy Coppom, a 99-year-old Colorado Buffaloes superfan, has seen 16 head football coaches come and go in Boulder over the past 80 years, including four fired since 2010. It also includes people. New coach Deion Sanders.
After being hired last December;
∎ Sanders, 56, stopped by her home in January to introduce himself and carried a video camera to film the visit.
∎ Since then, she has developed a friendship with him unlike any other Colorado coach before him.
∎ She is currently on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine with him and is also starring in a new documentary series about him on Amazon Prime Video.
“Well, this year, first of all, has been incredible and it’s been a lot of fun,” Coppom told USA TODAY Sports in a recent interview. “There was a lot of excitement and a lot of public recognition, but I didn’t think I needed it. But anyway, it happened because of my friendship with him.”
That friendship blossomed this year. That’s because no matter how different they may seem, they have something in common and what each brings to the other. Sanders is a flamboyant, world-famous black former athlete from Florida. Coppom is an unassuming white Irish Catholic great-grandmother from a small town in eastern Colorado.
Still, this year they “hit it off” as friends, Coppom said.
Why Deion Sanders and Peggy Coppom share a bond
For her part, Sanders and his joy at being back in Colorado football alleviates some of the sadness she felt after losing her identical twin sister and fellow Buffs superfan Betty Hoover, who died in 2020. It is useful for
For Saunders, Coppom became a model for a life lived well and loved.
USA TODAY Sports spoke to both men about their connection. It’s the gentlest footnote in a season that was perhaps the biggest story in sports, as the Buffs finished 4-8 after a 3-0 start in September.
“Peggy is unbelievable,” Sanders told USA TODAY Sports this month. “She’s a pillar of stability. She’s a pillar of love, she’s a pillar of hope, she’s a pillar of consistency, she’s a legacy. And she’s such a lovely person.”
Why Deion Sanders admires Peggy
The two first met in January when Colorado athletic director Rick George brought Sanders to see Coppom. Coppom attended more than 3,000 CU games in multiple sports with her sister until about 1940.
Sanders then invited her to the ceremonial opening kickoff of his team’s spring game in April. He also included her in similar public appearances like this, and there’s a reason for that.
“She doesn’t have bad days. I don’t have bad days. That’s why we have a heart-to-heart. I’ve seen Peggy have a bad attitude or be upset about something. “That never happens. I love her for that. She’s very consistent,” he said.
Coppom said Sanders is right to some extent. She, like him, is energetic and an eternal optimist.
But she misses her sister.
“Do I cry sometimes?” Yes. ‘
Her twin, Betty Hoover, passed away at age 95 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. In 2021, the university will dedicate a twin tree and plaque on campus in memory of the “Twins” who shared her passion for CU sports, especially after the loss of her husband decades earlier. did.
Coppom said she still talks to her sister in spirit.
“I keep saying to Betty, ‘Help me get through this, Betty. I wish you were here, you know?'” Coppom said, “Because we were so close. is.”
She still feels the sadness of her absence, but explains why she gives the impression that she has never had a “bad day,” as Sanders puts it. It comes from her parents, her father, a former meat cutter, and her mother, who worked at a clothing store in Colorado.
“I don’t know what you mean by a bad day,” she said. “So, ‘Do I cry sometimes?’ Yes, I cry sometimes, but my parents raised us to be the best we can be, and I never heard them complain about something.” No. So, yes, I always try to be cheerful.
“I try to be optimistic, but I’m also realistic about life. I know there’s suffering, sadness, etc. I have to accept that, but I don’t want others or myself. I won’t accept it if it becomes a burden to me.
“In fact, if you don’t ultimately get through these things with a smile on your face, you’ll be hurting yourself and those around you. So you have to get through them and keep going.”
The growth of the 2023 Colorado football team has helped in that regard. Sanders’ personality and reputation instantly elevated the program, bringing Coppom along after the Buffs finished 1-11 in 2022.
Ms Coppom’s son Dale said all of this had helped her “in the sense that it gave her an opportunity to think about something else” besides her sister’s death. “She likes people, so the attention she gets is very encouraging for her,” he says. She’s still a little shocked by it all.
“Why is this happening to me?”
Before Sanders’ arrival, Coppom and her sister were locally famous twins known for wearing the same clothes and supporting CU sports. Since Sanders’ arrival, Coppom’s relationship with Sanders has been a hot topic, with Coppom appearing in a video introducing the team’s theme song after the Sept. 9 victory over Nebraska State.
“Give me my theme song!” she said after Mr. Sanders coached her to say it. The Ying Yang Twins’ song “Halftime” rang out from the Colorado locker room on cue. A video of the moment has been liked more than 110,000 times on Colorado football’s Instagram account.
By the way, does she like that song?
“I’m fine,” she said. “They asked me what kind of music I like. I like big band music from the ’40s. That’s not what they wanted.”
Coppom, who attended CU for a year as a student during World War II, was also featured on ESPN this year and can currently be seen on Season 2 of “Coach Prime” on Amazon Prime Video. Near the end of football season, she even picked up the phone and was asked to appear in a photoshoot for the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine.
“Are you serious?” Coppom replied.
they were.
“She always makes comments to me like, ‘I can’t believe how this happened to me,’ and ‘Why did this happen to me?'” People want to hear good things about change in media.”
Peggy considers Deion Sanders a good friend.
Sanders nominated her again at a ceremony on campus this month, recognizing her as Sports Illustrated’s Athlete of the Year.
“I’m going to take Peggy to the bowl game next year,” he told the crowd.
“Oh yeah, he said that,” she later told reporters by phone. “Maybe it’s because of my age. I don’t know why. Anyway, I’ll put it in kind of plain language: I think we hit it off as far as liking each other and being friends.” And now I consider him a good friend.
“And he cares about his family,” she said. “He’s very family-oriented and I love that he’s not afraid to express his faith in God and all that. When we become friends, we have some things in common.
“Thank you for calling. I don’t know why you’re interested in my thoughts, but that’s what I think. Thank you and God bless you. Goodbye.”
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenbohr. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com