SAN ANTONIO — Like everyone else in the sport, Deion Sanders has been the face of college football for the past two years as it plunges into a new era of portal and playoffs, zero and evolution.

From taking over a 1-11 program in Colorado, to proving so many skeptics wrong, to developing a Heisman Trophy winner, to turning Colorado into must-see television that’s not just a ratings machine, but also became a top 25 team, Coach Prime was like nothing this sport has ever seen – with his own camera crews documenting every moment along the way. And yet, just minutes before kickoff in Saturday night’s Alamo Bowl loss to BYU, we saw him like never before.

Speechless.

Deion Sanders, sunglasses on, headset around his neck and head bowed, was overcome with emotion as all the memories of the years he coached his sons Shiloh and Shedeur, from pee-wee football to Jackson State to Resurrected Colorado streamed in. He had just taken to the field with his sons, as he had done countless times before, but it never felt like this.

On camera, ESPN reporter Taylor McGregor asked what brought on the emotions. The 57-year-old choked for a few heartbeats.

“The journey,” he said. “It was a massive, turbulent journey.”

Sanders knew this moment would come. He admitted a day earlier that he had tried to shy away from that reality. It came to mind before his sons’ final home game in Colorado, but that wasn’t their last college game together.

What made it even more difficult was that it wasn’t just Shiloh and Shedeur, but also his other “sons.” It was Travis Hunter, the two-way player and Heisman winner, who shocked the college football establishment as the No. 1 recruit in the country by decommitting from Florida State to follow Sanders at Jackson State. And it was Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig, the heartbeat of the Buffaloes’ defense, who had played for him when he was offensive coordinator at Trinity Christian High School in Texas when Shedeur was the quarterback. Silmon-Craig had withdrawn from FAU to follow Sanders to Jackson State.

“I was annoyed with Shedeur yesterday,” Sanders said with a grin on Friday. “I told him we have 48 hours, son, and then this will all be over.

“It will be special. I don’t know how to deal with this. I know Travis will trigger me because he always does. It will bring tears to my eyes. I’m not looking forward to it, but I’m looking forward to it because it means they’re going to go to another level, to another chapter of life, and they’re going to be on a high. I’m grateful that I feel like we’ve equipped them with all the tools they need to be successful.”

Sanders found it hard not to feel nostalgic. He had a legendary career as one of the most exciting players the sport has ever seen. He won two Super Bowls and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He also played Major League Baseball, once hitting over .500 in a World Series for the Atlanta Braves despite playing with a broken bone in his foot. But it feels like it hits him differently.

“This is a tremendous calling that God has placed on my life, to be with these children and raise them to such a level,” Sanders said Friday. “If you remember that your steps will be ordered, I am grateful. I’m grateful that (Colorado athletic director) Rick (George) gave me the opportunity. We wouldn’t have had a Heisman Trophy winner. Several other guys will definitely be drafted. It wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t accepted this calling. That’s why I’m grateful for the opportunities that are presented to me. I’m grateful to be here, period. Man, that’s a blessing. I don’t take a moment for granted.”

Sanders, who has insisted he plans to remain in Colorado after the deaths of his sons, continued with full awareness as he spoke candidly about his feelings and spoke of his bond with many other players who had joined his vision, join him on the path to CU.

“We’ve all had moments in my office or on the field that could bring you to tears if you really knew those moments,” he said. “Cam Silmon, who has played for me since he was a sophomore in high school.”

On Saturday night, about a half hour after Colorado was defeated 36-14 by underdog BYU, Silmon-Craig sat to Sanders’ right and Shedeur to his father’s left in the press conference after a game in which almost everything went wrong for the Buffs.

Silmon-Craig is not the showstopper in the secondary. That’s Hunter, of course. But when you ask multiple coaches who their favorite player is on this Colorado team, the former two-star recruit ranked as the No. 212 safety in the class of 2021 is their answer.

He was also the guy the Colorado staff knew would say the right things to his teammates just when they needed it most after the Buffs lost at home to Kansas State in mid-October when the coaches knew that the next six weeks would determine this team. And he said exactly the right thing. They won their next four games and five of their next six to finish 9-4.

“He’s everything you want in college football,” defensive coordinator Robert Livingston told me, raving about Silmon-Craig’s toughness and character. “He’s phenomenal.”

Silmon-Craig, who had six tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and one interception Saturday, smiled when asked how he will remember his time helping save the Buffaloes.

“I will reflect on the work, on the brotherhood we have built,” Silmon-Craig said. “I love these guys in this locker room with all my heart. They mean a lot to me.”

Shedeur Sanders, the quarterback who, along with Hunter, is projected to be a top 10 pick in the NFL Draft, said for him the reality that this was the last game his father played in Colorado with his large extended family had not yet set in. Maybe it will happen in the next week or two when they’re not all together.

“I’ll be able to go back and reflect on those times,” he said.

But he is very proud of what they accomplished in Boulder.

“It felt great to represent Colorado and bring (the program) back to where it was in the past,” he said. “I feel like we’ve been able to reset the foundation of the program so that the other incoming players can now pick up where we left off.”

No one in the locker room, least of all Deion Sanders, would have imagined that this evening would be based on Saturday’s one-sided loss. But Sanders said a tough night even in their final game together won’t overshadow or diminish everything they’ve accomplished on their journey over the past two years.

“It won’t,” he said. “That’s the end. It’s over. They’re on to the next one. They will have great careers. They will move on. They will wash it away. Maybe they’ll analyze it on the way home. I know Cam will think about it and think about plays he made and plays he didn’t make. They’ll flush this out and then relax a bit to get their bodies ready to prepare for the combine and pro days, and Cam will be playing in the East-West (Shrine) Game, so he’ll have to stay focused for that too. ”

One of the final questions Sanders was asked was whether his program had left an impact on college football in terms of the way schools recruit, market and present themselves, and what that meant to him legacy meant.

“I don’t think we’re even considering it,” he said. “We really don’t care. We’re just trying to develop these young men, win games and make sure they’re consistent men in the community, in their relationships, in their families and in school. Trust me, we don’t think about it that way.”

His answer to this question reminded me of something he had said the day before, when his perspective sounded so much like parenting and not just coaching.

“It’s unfortunate that they’re moving forward, but you pray that you’ve invested enough in them for them to move up as they move forward,” he said. “They don’t just pass by. They move on and they rise. You blessed them with knowledge and support as well as love and compassion in those moments. In the crucial moments, it’s not even about the pitch. It’s about what happens in life so you can be there for them.

“These are the things that I passionately admire in many of our seniors and I can’t wait to see them take off.”

(Top photo: David Buono / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)