Matt Varga Deion Sanders and his Colorado Buffaloes were one of the defining stories of this past year in college football. Though Week 0 is still a ways away, it doesn’t mean that Coach Prime nor his players are stepping away from the grind, in training or in merchandising. In an Instagram video posted to his @deionsanders account, the Buffaloes HC unveiled an exclusive pair of his Nike DT Max ’96 in a sleek CU Gold colorway.
After several years apart, Nike and Deion Sanders once again inked their relationship going into the 2023 season. On top of opening up more branding opportunities for Coach Prime, it also afforded current attendees of CU some exclusive on-field gear. Of course, that included some special versions of Deion’s Nike DT Max ’96. Now seizing the opportunity for himself, the version he showcased on Instagram holds onto most of the design of the OG shoes but clads them in the school colors.
Importantly, the gold & white pair that Deion showed off is lacking the Air unit that marked original mainline releases. If these are a “decleated” version of the PEs given to Colorado players, it’s a natural progression- the air unit was lost on those performance editions, and after being refracted once again back into a lifestyle shoe, that feature remains absent.
With the cleat version proving popular for athletes like Kyler Murray, as well as gaining a foothold for general consumers (see the February retro of the Nike Air DT Max ’96), it’s possible that a wide release of this CU version is on the docket for the coming months. Even as a one-off though, they’re plenty interesting, and add sneakerhead intrigue to what was already a “can’t miss” storyline. You can find the full video posted to Deion’s IG below.
Elsewhere for the Swoosh, the OG Nike Air Max 1 “Royal” looms for release around the upcoming Air Max Day holiday.
