Wrestling icon Bill Goldberg wandered on the sidelines and drones buzzed overhead. But for 8-year-old Domingo Bueno, the real show was between the white lines.
“Hey, there’s Shedeur!” the Columbian Elementary student cried as he saw CU Buffs quarterback Shedeur Sanders sprint past their bleacher seats at around the 35-yard line on Friday night at All-City Stadium.
“You see him running?” Domingo excitedly asked his mother, Alejandra Ramirez-Bueno. “White cleats!”
When the Tyler Childers/Shakey Graves concert at Folsom Field on Saturday forced CU to tweak its preseason routine, the Buffs turned a scheduling conflict into an evening of community outreach in the heart of the metro.
“I love Boulder,” CU coach Deion Sanders said after practice. “I don’t want to get away from Boulder. I just wanted to change the atmosphere, come over from Denver.”
An estimated 3,500 fans turned out to watch a free, open practice, giving Denver kids and parents a chance to get an up-close look at CU stars such as Coach Prime, his sons Shedeur and Shilo, top offensive line recruit Jordan Seaton and cornerback/receiver Travis Hunter.
“This is probably the biggest crowd — I never would’ve played (in front of a crowd this big) in high school,” the elder Sanders said after practice. “But I’m glad we got to come deep in the community.”
Hunter — sorry, Shedeur — is actually Domingo’s favorite Buff.
“Because he’s just fast,” Bueno gushed. “He can catch it. He’s the best on offense and defense.”
Domingo’s older brother Dezi, 11, was torn between Shedeur and Hunter as to which CU player impressed him the most.
“(Sanders) is a pretty good QB,” the elder Bueno said. “And Hunter, he’s a pretty good cornerback. I just like him because I see videos of him talking trash — and he always backs it up.”
For the boys’ parents, Alejandra and Miguel, the Buffs’ visit to the home of DPS football was a welcome bridge to metro-area fans who don’t often head up the Turnpike.
Plus, it’s a pretty nice price point given that tickets for CU’s home opener against North Dakota State started at $101 per seat on TickPick.com as of Friday night. The cheapest get-in price for the Buffs’ second home game, against Baylor on Sept. 21, was $159 per ticket.
“We’re all about Denver Public Schools,” said Alejandra, who works at Columbian Elementary. “So I thank (CU) for giving my kids a chance to experience this.”
“It’s cool, because you don’t (often) get to Boulder,” Miguel added. “You can’t make it to Boulder (on Saturdays) because kids have practice. So it’s pretty convenient that they came here (to Denver). Kids get to watch them practice — it’s pretty good to see how they work, how they practice and go about their drills.”
