Deion Sanders says lawsuits aren’t distractions: ‘Do you think that’s my first subpoena?’

Deion Sanders pushed back on the idea his pending legal situations are distractions as Colorado prepares to open its season Sept. 3 at Georgia Tech.

Sanders, who is entering his fourth season as head coach in Boulder, was subpoenaed to testify in the upcoming bankruptcy trial of his son, Shilo Sanders, which is scheduled to begin Monday, three days before the Colorado-Georgia Tech game. Sanders was also deposed late in July in a lawsuit filed by a graphic designer who accused him of using hollow promises to sign away rights to two logos he created for Sanders’ personal brand, according to court records.

“Is that a distraction? Do you think that’s my first subpoena? When you have ‘it.’ When you ‘him.’ When you ‘that’, you get sued,” Sanders said at a news conference Monday. “You have off-the-field foolishness that if somebody really sat down and explained it to you, you’d say, ‘You’ve got to be kidding.’”

Last week, Deion Sanders’ lawyer, Harvey Steinberg, filed a motion to dismiss the subpoena for Sanders to appear at his son’s trial, which is in Denver. Deion Sanders is listed as one of 13 witnesses prosecutors plan to call to the stand in the trial, according to court documents filed Monday. Steinberg also requested a protective order on behalf of Sanders to prevent future subpoena attempts by the plaintiff in the case. Judge Michael E. Romero scheduled a video hearing on the motion for Thursday.

Shilo Sanders filed for bankruptcy in 2023 as a result of a 2022 default judgment in which he was ordered to pay John Darjean, a former high school security guard, more than $11 million in damages. That judgment stems from a 2016 lawsuit Darjean filed after a 2015 incident at Shilo’s school in Dallas. Darjean alleged that a physical confrontation with the then-15-year-old at the school caused permanent damage.

Deion Sanders, who has previously called Darjean a “grifter,” said Monday his son has previously “won” the case.

“Shilo ain’t done nothing wrong. You know Shilo won this case previously, right? Anybody know that? Raise your hand if you knew that. That Shilo got awarded money for this? Just check it out. I can’t wait until it’s over and he gets to tell his story,” Sanders said. “He already won this case.”

Shilo Sanders filed for bankruptcy in 2023 as a result of the 2022 judgment. It’s unclear what Deion Sanders was referring to, but Shilo Sanders did reach a confidential settlement in 2019 after suing his school, Focus Learning Academy, and its founder, Leroy McClure, USA Today reported. The judge in the case noted the settlement “does not affect” other claims, including those by Darjean, according to USA Today.

Additionally, Deion Sanders is facing a lawsuit from a graphic designer who says he created the “Prime” logo Sanders used on Blenders sunglasses and Colorado gear and was not compensated for it.

Sanders filed a declaration in the case Friday stating the logos were part of his previous deal with Under Armour.

The graphic designer, Alan Tipp, filed a federal lawsuit in Nebraska in January 2025 and is seeking a judgment of more than $75,000 from Sanders and his management agency, SMAC Entertainment.

Sanders was unbothered when the topic of “distractions” and “lawsuits” arose in Monday’s news conference.

“It is what it is,” he said. “I don’t know anyone that’s a game changer, a way maker that’s not dealing with some type of lawsuit.”