"You have not changed": When Coach Prime's ex-wife kidded Shilo Sanders for acting like a 5-year-old before his surgery

Even nursing a broken arm, Shilo Sanders wasn't going to change. Heading in for surgery to repair the injury in September, cameras followed Sanders, who brought a youthful exuberance to an otherwise concerning medical situation. Before long, he was back on the field for his father, Deion Sanders, and Colorado.

After entering the hospital and pointing out that it had a piano, Shilo demonstrated a clotheslining motion to his mother, Pilar Sanders, acting out what his new playing style would look like while making believe to use it on her.

"I'm gonna be one of those old-school safeties that hit like this," Shilo said in a video posted to his YouTube in September (Timestamp: 0:47). "'My own Mom!'"

Soon after, Shilo backpedaled and ran a circle around the waiting room.

"You know what? You have not changed," Pilar Sanders said. "You are the exact same way as you were when you were five."

The video cut to an X-ray of Shilo's broken arm, then him dancing to a song while dressed in a hospital gown. He was obviously in good spirits although he was soon to have plates and screws put into his arm to repair it.

His father, Deion Sanders, later posted pictures with him, one of Shilo Sanders in a wheelchair, and wrote:

"God is Good! Can't wait to see u back ready to go. Love ya son!"

How did the injury affect Shilo Sanders?

Shilo Sanders talked about how he was injured as he approached the hospital's entrance. It happened during the first quarter of the Buffaloes' road loss against Nebraska when he tried to bring down Cornhuskers tailback Dante Dowdell.

Even in recalling the play, Shilo was cheery.

"As y'all can see, I'm about to walk in here and get my forearm fixed," Sanders said. "Making a good open-field tackle, and my forearm just couldn't hold up, man.

"Running back just running with a full head of steam, and his leg hit my forearm. ... I'm gonna be one of those old-school guys with a big old cast on my arm, but the good news is, I'll be able to play, like ASAP."

The mishap paused Sanders' effort to follow up a redshirt junior campaign in which he was an All-Pac-12 honorable mention. He had 69 tackles during that 2023 go-round with Colorado.

Shilo Sanders missed three games with the forearm ailment before returning against Kansas State in October. His father said before that game against the Wildcats that Shilo was ready, practicing "full go" with a rubber cast on.

Colorado won three games in a row despite Shilo Sanders' absence. He helped the Buffaloes to a 9-4 record and still wound up with 67 tackles on the year. That total ranked third on the team, behind fellow safety Cam'Ron Silmon-Craig and linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green.