Football season has mercifully arrived to relieve the doldrums of weekend television programming. There is perhaps no greater time on the American sports calendar than the start of football season. Your team has yet to lose, and even if they are supposed to sink like a stone to the bottom of the standings, there’s still a glimmer of hope that they will perform some minor miracle and win it all. It’s why they play the game after all, and the prospect of which can carry you for at least a couple weeks. Or until that first dog-walking brings you crashing back to earth.
For some college football fans, reality has already begun to set in and even an expanded 12-team playoff already seems out of reach after a Week One clobbering. But not for Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes (yet). Coach Prime and the Buffs won their first game, barely edging out football powerhouse [checks note] North Dakota State—at home no less—to keep their playoff hopes alive. But those aren’t the only headlines Sanders made over the weekend, as news came out that he is now a co-owner of coffee brand BLK & Bold.
We’ve covered the Des Moines, Iowa-based coffee roaster previously on Sprudge, separately interviewing both co-founders Pernell Cezar and Rod Johnson as part of our Roaster Spotlight series and Seed to Cup podcast, respectively. In each, the brand’s mission to use specialty coffee as a means to creating social impact is clear. After securing deals to get their coffee in major national retailers like Target and Whole Foods, BLK & Bold has quickly become one of the most recognizable brands in specialty coffee. And with Coach Prime coming on board, that’s only going to increase.
Sanders in a headline-grabbing machine. From his time as a multi-sport athlete in baseball and football—where he was the most feared cornerback and punt returner in the league—Prime Time’s talents on the field were only equaled by his gift for telling you exactly how talented he was. And that same confidence has carried over to his coaching career, where he has speed ran his way through leading high school teams to take over at Jackson State before heading off to Boulder.
While the Buffaloes return to the Big 12 this season isn’t likely to end in a playoff berth, Sanders is looking to have impact off the field with BLK & Bold. He joins the roaster as both a co-owner and the “Social Change Leader,” per the press release, where he will “collaborate and amplify BLK & Bold’s efforts in empowering underserved communities.”
“Joining BLK & Bold is more than just a business move for me—it’s about making a LASTING IMPACT,” said Coach Prime. “I’ve always believed in the power of giving back and uplifting others, and with BLK & Bold, we have the perfect platform to do just that.”
Details have not yet been given to what level of involvement Sanders will have in the company. But one thing is for certain: given his penchant for making big claims—and normally backing them up—Sanders becoming part of BLK & Bold is only going to increase the brand’s profile even more.
And it doesn’t hurt that the Buffaloes and BLK & Bold share a color scheme. The real question is whether or not the coffee roaster will do a rebrand after CU goes an admirable 7-5 for the season and Coach Prime takes over at Florida or for whatever SEC basement dweller enters the head coaching carousel.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
