BOULDER — Who needs Will Ferrell when you’ve got Lil Wayne and Ralphie?
A year ago at this time, the home sideline at Folsom Field was radioactive. Now it’s the new Crypto.com Arena, the sporting venue where stars — we’re talking A-list dudes: The Rock, Master P, Offset, Terrell Owens — want to be seen.
“That doesn’t happen anywhere, for real, unless you’re in Los Angeles and you’re winning,” LenDale White, former Broncos running back, USC star and Chatfield High state champ, told me.
“Bama? People don’t stop there (unless) you’re winning. (Then) people want to be a part of that.
“But for people to already be at CU and seeing that excitement already, I haven’t seen that effect in college football. Even in my (time at USC), I was on teams where we had two Heisman winners and my spring game never had a sellout crowd or stuff like what the CU spring game had.”
White was a Denver kid who ran with Hollywood royalty — Snoop Dogg, LeBron, Jessica Simpson, Ferrell — back in the day.
Roll the clock ahead some 18-19 years, and Hollywood royalty is running to … Boulder? The former Trojan All-American, who left USC as the program’s all-time rushing touchdown leader (52) in 2005, isn’t totally convinced that Pete Carroll could’ve pulled that last one off.
“When you look up and down the sidelines, maybe Miami (had stars), when they were rolling like that,” White reflected. “(Here), you have Deion. That’s what draws people like that.
“When you’re winning in Hollywood, it’s not hard (to draw that). When you’re winning (with) Deion Sanders, everyone wants to be a part of that. Even T.O., Warren Sapp, and even (Denver prep legend and ex-CU great) Chauncey Billups has been back there. Just to see that, what Deion Sanders, Prime Time, has done here, you go from nobody showing up to (CU) games to no matter what, you’ve got 50,000 fans out there.”
With White’s Trojans coming to town for the last Pac-12 meeting between the two programs — USC has won the previous 11 and is 16-0 against CU since 1927 — it’s fair to ask: Have the Buffs, in one season, already supplanted USC as the college football program the celebrities want to flock to?
“When I first got here, I was starstruck,” Buffs wideout and grad transfer Javon Antonio said. “But just knowing (that) Coach Prime brings everybody, it’s kind of been normal.”
Note to you kids out there: The Rock giving a pregame speech? Not normal. Lil Wayne leading you out onto the field? Not normal. Key Glock serenading your locker room during the postgame party? Not normal. AEW big shots watching your Wednesday practice? Not. Normal.
“I mean, naw, it’s not normal,” Antonio laughed. “Just seeing it, waking up (knowing) you’ll probably see (AEW analyst) Mark Henry … stuff like that is not normal. But it’s fun to watch and (see) what they say to the team.”
On Wednesday, the Buffs entertained pro wrestling luminaries such as AEW’s Anthony Bowens, “Platinum” Max Caster, Swerve Strickland and 7-foot-2, 300-pound Satnam Singh, one of the few human beings on the planet who might make a Jokic brother flinch.
Henry, the former Olympic powerlifter, addressed the team, reminding them not to let the stars get in their eyes.
“Before the game, we’re all locked in and trying to make sure the job is done first,” Buffs cornerback Omarion Cooper said of the celebrity cameos. “After the game, after the job is done, we sit back, we take it all in. It’s a blessing.”
Saturday’s a blessing for White, too, albeit a tricky one. The former Bronco is a lifelong Sanders fan — he wore the number 21 in the former NFL cornerback’s honor from the age of 7 — who also bleeds Trojans cardinal and gold.
“I’m going to have my USC stuff on (at Folsom), no disrespect to Deion,” White chuckled. “When they’re not playing the Trojans, then it’s CU everything.
“If Deion continues to win, things are going to change (in Boulder). If you have a Heisman Trophy there in four years, two national championships there, that’s part of why people want to be there. … When you win, a lot of things change overnight. Just like you’ve seen with Deion.”
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