What it means for Deion Sanders to testify in Shilo Sanders’ bankruptcy case

Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders was subpoenaed in his son's ongoing bankruptcy case. (Photo by Zach Woodbury/Sko Buffs Sports)

Colorado Judge Michael E. Romero ruled on Thursday that Colorado Buffaloes football head coach Deion Sanders must be able to potentially testify virtually in his son Shilo’s ongoing bankruptcy case. 

Romero informed Sanders’ agent, Harvey Steinberg, that his client should make himself available in the afternoon on Sept. 4, one day after the Buffaloes play their season opener on the road at Georgia Tech. Romero ruled that “Coach Prime” would only need to testify on a rebuttal basis should Victor Vital, who is representing Shilo, open the door to Sanders’ testimony in a previous civil case. 

Vital informed Romero in a virtual call on Thursday that he does not intend to go that route in next week’s trial.

The petition for relief filed under Chapter 7 in Colorado's Bankruptcy Code states Shilo Sanders is on the hook for $11.3 million. The initial filing noted that Sanders owned $478,000 in assets, though a December amendment reduced that number down to $320,000.  

This ruling preceded a local sheriff's deputy who showed up on Colorado’s campus to attempt to serve Deion Sanders with civil papers. The Buffaloes were practicing at the same time, so Sanders was unavailable to collect the papers in person.

“Do you think that’s my first subpoena?” Sanders said on Aug. 24 when asked about the case. “When you have ‘it,’ when you’re ‘him,’ you get sued. You have off-the-field foolishness that if someone really sat down and explained it to you, you would say, ‘You’ve got to be kidding. But it is what it is.”

While Shilo is no longer a Colorado player, the subpoena news raises the question of whether the case is a distraction for the team ahead of the matchup against the Yellow Jackets. Since the game is on a Thursday, the Buffaloes already have a shortened week for preparation. 

“It is what it is,” Sanders said. “I don’t know anyone that’s a game changer and a way maker that’s not dealing with some type of lawsuit.”

Shilo Sanders’ case stems from an incident with a high school security guard. The guard filed a lawsuit against Sanders, and a default judgment was entered after Sanders failed to appear for an earlier court date. The original suit said the guard sustained permanent injuries.

Coach Sanders had a different view of the events and claimed his son “won this case previously,” and added, “Shilo already got awarded money for this.”

However, this does not relate to Shilo’s bankruptcy case. He wouldn’t be in bankruptcy now if he had won that case. And according to USA Today, Sanders “appears to be referring to a confidential settlement Shilo Sanders reached with third parties in the case in 2019 after Shilo Sanders sued his school, Focus Learning Academy, and its founder, Leroy McClure. Such settlements often are reached to end expensive litigation, with no admission of liability.”

The first test on the field for Colorado football is fast approaching. For the Sanders family, the hope is that the weekend brings two wins and one flipped page on the court docket.