Social media reacts to Deion Sanders being named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year
For the seventh time in his life, Deion Sanders is on the cover of Sports Illustrated. This time, it’s in honor of being named SI’s 2023 Sportsperson of the Year.
The recognition comes to Coach Prime after he led Colorado football to a 4-8 record in his first season leading the Buffs. Other coaches to earn Sportsperson of the Year include Pat Summit, Mike Krzyzewski, Don Shula, Dean Smith and John Wooden.
SI’s annual Sportsperson of the Year issue is expected to hit newsstands on Dec. 14. The cover also features Colorado athletic director Rick George, 99-year-old superfan Peggy Coppom, four of Sanders’ children, chancellor Phil DiStefano and others who are close to Coach Prime.
Here’s how social media reacted to Sanders earning Sports Illustrated’s 2023 Sportsperson of the Year:
🦬2023 Sportsperson Of The Year 😎 pic.twitter.com/dREzY6mLCt
— RG 📷 (@RyanGreeneDNVR) November 30, 2023
The coach of a 4-8 football team (1-8 in the Pac-12) is the SI Sportsperson of the Year.
Tough week for a once proud journalistic institution. https://t.co/LDbr6FpxBO
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) November 30, 2023
Deion Sanders is SI’s Sportsperson of the Year despite Colorado’s last-place finish https://t.co/Hd6hTAolGb pic.twitter.com/wMuRL5WOR7
— New York Post (@nypost) November 30, 2023
Deion Sanders is @SInow’s 2023 Sportsperson of the Year: pic.twitter.com/Q0axqzDosP
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 30, 2023
Coach Prime is here, and he's just getting started
Deion Sanders is SI's 2023 Sportsperson of the Year! https://t.co/Xebtm9bmNZ pic.twitter.com/Sdt500V93u
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) November 30, 2023
Did AI pick this three months ago? https://t.co/J7Dq6d0nqN
— Jake Shapiro, but gobble gobble 🦃 (@Shapalicious) November 30, 2023
Congrats to our Chief Motivation Officer, @DeionSanders, on being named the @SInow Sportsperson of the Year! Keep on leading Colorado #ReadySetCO pic.twitter.com/SZTDARrvj6
— uchealth (@uchealth) November 30, 2023
It's the year of COACH PRIME!
Congratulations to @DeionSanders for being named SI's 2023 Sportsperson of the Year!@SInow pic.twitter.com/qQeg37nUXu
— Good Morning America (@GMA) November 30, 2023
Have you heard? 🦬 Coach Prime was just named Sports Illustrated's 2023 Sportsperson of the Year, and every Forever Buff has a reason to be proud. https://t.co/XSqI8pdBRX
— Forever Buffs 🦬 (@CUBoulderAlumni) November 30, 2023
Deion Sanders named SI Sportsperson of the Year after turning one-win Colorado into, uh, four-win Colorado https://t.co/NuPXlJFH7e
— Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) November 30, 2023
Coach of the Year and Sportsperson of the Year aren't the same.
Colorado owned the first four weeks of the season. Colorado-Oregon is the second-most-watched game of the season. He took a horrible brand and made it incredibly relevant and more importantly a BOATLOAD of money. https://t.co/eQZE2Jfamx
— Denton Day (D-Day) (@TheDentonDay) November 30, 2023
Deion Sanders is a fascinating guy. I loved watching him play. He's uniquely him, and good for that. But Sportsperson of the Year? Was a 4-8 season that much of a Colorado miracle? Have the AI bots completely taken over Sports Illustrated?
— scott pianowski (@scott_pianowski) November 30, 2023