Sheriff’s deputy attempted to serve Deion Sanders papers on Colorado campus

A Boulder County sheriff’s deputy attempted to serve Colorado football coach Deion Sanders with papers on campus last week.

But Sanders, according to sheriff’s department spokesperson Carrie Haverfield, was “unavailable at the time to receive receipt of the papers.” The deputy arrived on campus at 10:22 a.m. on Aug. 11, Haverfield said, while the Buffaloes were hosting an open practice at Franklin Field from 9 to 11.

The deputy’s attempt to serve the civil papers comes amid a USA Today report that the 59-year-old Sanders was subpoenaed to testify in his son Shilo’s bankruptcy trial, which is scheduled to start the same week as Colorado’s season-opener at Georgia Tech.

A Colorado spokesperson said the school declined to comment.

According to court records, Shilo Sanders, who played safety at Colorado for his father in 2023 and 2024, owes $11.89 million to John Darjean, a former high school security guard, who alleges that a physical altercation with Shilo Sanders in 2015 caused him permanent physical damage.

Colorado bankruptcy Judge Michael E. Romero will determine whether the looming debt is a result of what Romero described in a court filing last week as “a willful and malicious injury.” Shilo Sanders, who was 15 at the time, has claimed he acted in self-defense.

Shilo Sanders eventually filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in October 2023. Meanwhile, Darjean and his lawyers claimed in court documents that Shilo Sanders didn’t properly disclose his assets when he filed.

They are still seeking to collect on the $11.89 million judgment Shilo Sanders was ordered to pay after a March 2022 civil trial in a Texas district court ended in Darjean’s favor. Shilo Sanders failed to appear at the trial and claims in court documents that he could not afford legal representation at the time, that notice of new trial dates never reached him, and that he did not learn of the default judgment until 2023.

Haverfield told The Athletic in an email Wednesday morning that the sheriff’s department does not disclose the contents of civil papers served by its deputies, so there is no confirmation Deion Sanders has been subpoenaed yet, and it’s unclear whether it’s tied to his son’s bankruptcy case. Haverfield added that it is not unusual for the serving of civil papers to take multiple attempts to complete.

“While working with university staff to find a better time to complete the process, we heard from Mr. Sanders’ legal counsel who indicated that they were able to take receipt of the papers on behalf of Mr. Sanders, however, they were not located in Boulder County, so we transferred the paperwork to Denver to be served,” Haverfield wrote. “We did not find any university staff to be attempting to block the civil service, on the contrary, they were attempting to help our deputy find a better time to do so.”

USA Today reported Sunday that Deion Sanders was to be summoned to testify in his son’s upcoming trial, which is scheduled to begin Aug. 31, three days before the Buffaloes are scheduled to take on Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

In a pretrial conference held this past Friday, Romero noticed the subpoena attempt for Deion Sanders and the timing of the start of Colorado’s season, USA Today reported.

“I am not a CU alum, or I have no ties to CU,” Romero said, according to USA Today. “So I don’t care. But I’m just recognizing that is a potential issue.”

Deion Sanders is entering his fourth year as head coach at Colorado. The Buffaloes are coming off a 3-9 season one year after winning nine games when they were guided by Sanders’ other son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, and eventual Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter.