Boulder, Colorado — Peggy Coppom is 98 years old.
She’s arguably Colorado’s most famous fan, but she’s also quick to apologize for her poor eyesight and hearing. She had to sound right when I told her I was coming. Dion Sanders.
“Are you bringing me tomorrow!?” she asked Prime Coach.
George said so. Coppom used to make root beer floats when George visited, but it was a chilly winter day. So he suggested passing on an ice cream for the morning visit.
Colorado football’s new coach only drinks Pepsi anyway.
George and Sanders arrived on schedule, and George helped the two get to know each other because Coppom wasn’t shy and helped educate Sanders about the history of the program. We sat together at the dining room table covered with a pink tablecloth.
“She is a breath of fresh air. “She’s incredible.”
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Coppom moved to Boulder in 1940 after growing up in Huxtun, a small town on the northeastern plains of Colorado. Along with her twin sister Betty and her Hoover, who passed away in 2020, they attended numerous sporting events in Colorado and became known locally as the “CU Twins” who refused to leave early as a matter of pride.
So the 80-year Buffalo fandom builder with her sister who was an airline pilot and her late husband had plenty of stories for Sanders. Predictably, I cut back on Pepsi and fell in love with the praline pecan nuts she lined up.
“They were glazed or caramelized or something,” Sanders said. “I was just killing those things.”
After their meeting, Coppom sent Sanders a bag.
When their time together came to an end, Sanders grabbed her hand and hugged her.
“I thought he was trying to lift me off the ground,” Coppom said.
But before he left, Sanders had a demand. Will she be ready to hit the field with him in the spring games in three months?
“I said okay. But I’m 98. I’m not going to run,” Coppom said. “I said OK and thought, ‘Oh, he’s going to forget about this.’ He’s got 100 kids to look after there. did not.”
Nothing.
Sanders brought Coppom to the field for Saturday’s snow-filled spring game.
“It was really nice to see them and give them a hug. I have poor eyesight, so they had to say who they were when they said hello,” Coppom said. I was. “But they’ve changed so much since they’ve been here, so I’m not sure I can recognize them anyway.”
I posed with Coppom in the field to take a picture with him.
As the players started taking the field for the opening kick, Sanders came in and caught her, and cameras flocked to the duo. Saunders walked her from her 20-yard line to her 30-yard line and Coppom took her interest.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
He told her he was going to start the game with the opening kickoff.
“I said, ‘What!?'” Coppom said. athletic In her home after the game, she also produced some famous pecan nuts. My balance isn’t very good, my eyes aren’t good anymore, except my mouth, there’s nothing good.
Coppom gained speed as he approached the ball, grabbed Sanders’ arm to keep him balanced, and launched it in the air a few feet below the field to applaud from the crowd.
“Peggy sucked. Peggy was the MVP of the game. She was fast. Her first steps were unbelievable. “She played big. Her kickoff was phenomenal. She went through the uprights and everything.
Coppom added:
Coppom took his seat at the Flatiron Club upstairs and, like any other match, refused to leave early, even though the match was an exhibition snow.
Colorado made headlines this weekend with ESPN’s choice to air the spring games, but when it did, viewers watched the 98-year-old superfan begin his coaching prime era. rice field.
“I’ve never been this excited about a CU sport,” Coppom said, adding that he hopes the Buffaloes will be able to host a bowl game this year after going 1-11 last season. Added. “I can’t believe that one man got us all this attention.”
For a while, Sanders made sure that some of that attention went to Colorado’s most loyal fans.
“She was grateful and grateful,” Sanders said. “She really was. But she’s fun, man, she’s good, I wish to God — I just want to make it and have the same smile and energy and love for life, just like her.
(Photo of Deion Sanders and Peggy Coppom: Ron Chenoy / USA Today)
