After forcing most of the University of Colorado's football team into the transfer portal last year, and replacing them with other transfer athletes, former NFL and Major League Baseball star Deion Sanders, now better known as “Coach Prime,” led his Buffaloes to six straight losses to end the 2023 season and a last-place finish in the Pac-12 Conference. 

Colorado subsequently finished the most recent high school athlete recruiting cycle ranked a decidedly bad 84th by Rivals. 

Still, the man profiled by 60 Minutes twice in one year continues to effectively sell himself as the disruptive force of very disrupted college athletics — for the better! — a morally compassed leader and character-builder of young men. He’s managed to keep generating headlines and attention seemingly every day of the offseason. All while starting his own son at quarterback. 

It stands to reason, then, that down the street at Dish Network headquarters in Englewood, Cololorado, they thought Sanders might do a pretty good job of hawking Boost Mobile. 

Only in America!

In its press release Wednesday, Dish said that starting April 19, Boost Mobile customers can pay $149.99 for a “Coach Prime-branded” Motorola Razr.

“Adorned in a striking gold and black finish, featuring Coach Prime’s inspiring mantra ‘You Gotta Believe’ and his personal signature, the Motorola Razr Coach Prime edition is not only a stylish, premium foldable smartphone — it’s a symbol of motivation,” Dish said.

Now, we thought that “believe” mantra was actually started by the fictional Coach Ted Lasso over in England. And we assumed Sanders’ motivational tactics revolve around throwing offensive linemen under the bus during press conferences after bad games, threatening to replace them with transfer-portal athletes on the spot.

Perhaps the Motorola Razr is best paired with a new “anytime upgrade” plan? Wireless customers can hit the ol’ transfer portal anytime they grow tired of their gaudy gold device!

In any event, Dish Network — which is now trying to compete in the retail wireless industry as it simultaneously works to build out a national 5G wireless network and stay out of bankruptcy liquidation — thinks it has its guy. 

“I grew up watching Deion in Atlanta and am beyond thrilled to have Coach Prime on our team,” Sean Lee, senior VP of consumer product and marketing for Boost Mobile, said in a statement. “Coach Prime is a proven leader who works hard, knows what it takes to win and is a strong community advocate. Get ready for more exciting things to come from Boost Mobile and Coach Prime powered by our own 5G network.”

For his part, Sanders seems to understand the new American art form of empty-suited celebrity pitchman. One of the key techniques: Use lots of all-caps in messaging. 

"I’m all about connectivity and BABY, WE GOT THAT!,” said Sanders in Wednesday's Dish release. "It’s been A BLESSING to spend the past couple of months getting to know this WONDERFUL team. Learning what they’ve achieved, what they BELIEVE, and most importantly HOW they aspire to continue to push the envelope. 

“First and foremost, my signature motorola razr is NEXT LEVEL and I wanna see each and every darn one of you rocking these!,” Sanders added. "But what I’m most excited about is to be a part of the FAMILY that is building the most modern 5G wireless network all while offering the most competitive wireless plans that can reach EVERYBODY. Like I said, I’m all about connectivity and WE GOT YOU COVERED on every darn aspect!”

 Week two of the National Football League season continued to tackle the top slots on the live sports ratings chart, but Deion Sanders’s Colorado Buffaloes made a strong bid to break pro football’s viewership stranglehold. 

CBS’s September 17 late afternoon block of NFL games — which included the Dallas Cowboys-New York Jets game — was the most-watched live sports event for the week of September 11-17, averaging 25.78 million viewers, according to Nielsen numbers published by SportsMedia Watch. NBC’s Miami-New England Sunday Night Football telecast pulled into second place with 17.86 million viewers, followed by Fox and CBS’s Sunday afternoon early window NFL game telecasts, which averaged 16.59 million and 16.51 million viewers, respectively. 

Pulling into fifth place was Prime Video’s Minnesota Vikings-Philadelphia Eagles Thursday Night Football telecast, which drew 15.05 million viewers, making it the most watched NFL game on the streaming service, according to company officials. 

Placing among the top 10 most-watched events for the week was ESPN’s September 16 college football game featuring Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes against the Colorado State Rams, which drew 9.3 million viewers to finish as ESPN’s most watched late primetime game on record and its fifth most-watched college football game ever, according to the network. 

Fox’s September 14 regional baseball coverage was the most-watched non-football telecast of the week, averaging 1.68 million viewers. 

AOL will tackle the NFL Draft with a new digital docu-series that profiles three college football players entering the draft, according to the company.

The Journey to the Draft series, in which NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders will serve as executive producer and narrator debuts April 28th with nine episodes, with a final episode scheduled for May 6, according to AOL officials.

Athletes profiled in the series include Leonard Williams, Kevin White and Marcus Peters. The NFL Draft begins April 30.

“Journey To The Draft brings viewers behind the scenes and shows them the emotion and intensity the players experience,“ said Dermot McCormack, President of AOL Video and AOL Studios. “Every episode, we will take viewers inside the plays and politics; the locker rooms, press rooms and dorm rooms; like never before.”