Deion Sanders calls on Rose Bowl, NCAA to reimburse players for stolen items

Deion Sanders is asking the Rose Bowl to reimburse the players on his Colorado team who allegedly had items stolen from the locker room during their 28-16 loss at UCLA on Saturday night. Colorado’s head coach is also imploring the NCAA for some help.

“Our kids got robbed during the game last week. I think that’s a travesty,” Sanders told reporters on Tuesday. “I would expect the NCAA to do something about that.

“This is the Rose Bowl. They said the granddaddy of ’em all, right? I’m sure granddaddy had some money. Grandpa should have some money to give these kids.”

The Pasadena Police Department confirmed that it was investigating the matter on Monday, stating that UCLA was in communication with law enforcement, Rose Bowl Stadium officials and the University of Colorado.

“Well Off Media,” a YouTube channel that has followed Colorado behind the scenes throughout the season, released a video on Sunday with players discussing items that had been taken from them during the game. Several players in the video claimed that they had jewelry taken from them, with one player saying he had a piece of jewelry taken right from the jewelry box.

Darius Sanders, who also documents the Buffaloes, posted a video Monday from Folsom Field where he said coaches and support staff also discovered items went missing. He said he had money gone from his bag.

Coach Sanders said the team would figure out exactly what was stolen in hopes of getting properly reimbursed, claiming many of his players don’t have insurance for the items that were taken.

“I’m going to have a list made out from these young men, and I know they’re going to be truthful about what they lost, so we can try and get it back for them,” Sanders said. “They may not be able to get the items back, but they should be able to reimburse them. That was unbelievable.

“It don’t make no sense when you’re out there ballin’ and playing your heart out, and you get robbed at the same [time]. I hope we can do something about that, NCAA. You do something about everything else. Do something about that.”

Sanders also took issue with those who said that the players and members of the program shouldn’t have brought their valued possessions to the Rose Bowl, saying “we slipped” in teaching players to insure those items, but the team had spoken with them about financial literacy and planning.

“So they shouldn’t be blessed? They shouldn’t be blessed? That’s crazy,” Sanders said. “That’s like if you have a car in your driveway and somebody comes and steal your car. ‘Well, you shouldn’t have a car.’ That’s how stupid that sounds. These are young men that worked their butts off or were blessed and gifted by family members whatever was stolen.”

While UCLA plays its home games at the Rose Bowl, the stadium is located over two dozen miles away from its campus and is owned by the City of Pasadena. UCLA coach Chip Kelly expressed remorse over the incident when he spoke with reporters on Monday.

“I was just told walking over here, awful,” Kelly said. “The Pasadena Police were looking into it, but I literally just found out one minute ago.

“That’s awful for anybody,” Kelly added. “You would think that when you go anywhere that your valuables are safe. But I don’t know anything more than I literally just found out one second ago before I walked out here.”

Sanders, whose Colorado squad fell to 4-4 with Saturday’s loss, said his team will take extra measures to make sure their possessions are safe in road games moving forward, planning to have extra security for the locker room.

“That was on the road,” Sanders said. “You’re not thinking like that. … And you’re in the Rose Bowl. Who robs the Rose Bowl? Somebody.”

Colorado plays its next two games at home, hosting Oregon State on Saturday and Arizona the week after before hitting the road for games at Washington State and Utah to close out the season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.