The Black and Gold brotherhood likes to stay close and in style. For starting QB Shedeur Sanders, WR Kaleb Mathis seems to be a diamond in the rough. Just three months ago, when Mathis pulled out a diamond tester, Shedeur presented him with a diamond chain. No. 13, clearly shaken by this move, blurted out something that could only come from a place of honesty, “I ain’t never had nothing like this before. I don’t know how to put it on.” It now seems Mathis had just been warming up!

After their well-deserved vacation to Miami for the 4th of July, Kaleb Mathis is still in the festive spirit. On July 7, Mathis posted a picture on his Instagram account while getting off a private plane. He wore an all-black outfit, which made him outshine that whole set-up. Shedeur-esque much? If you’re a Colorado fan, you already know that Shedeur is the one usually dripped out in all-black clothing with layers. In fact, he wore a very similar outfit to promote his dad’s Nike DT 96 along with his siblings.

He captioned the post, “In the field them boys thirsty, we jump the gate when they raid.” Soon after the post was up, two-way Travis Hunter for team Colorado commented, “He got money💰.”

Travis was later joined by LaJohntay Wester, a former Florida Atlantic star receiver and punt returner who transferred in January in his final college football season. He commented, “Two word P & J for all my flights ok 🆒 K 🔥🔥.”

Back on their trip to Miami, Mathis let us in on some fun, adding, “I went to Miami, hung out with some teammates, you know, family kind. Just had a good time.” Of course, traveling in private jets isn’t out of the ordinary for the Sanders family. Back in May, we saw Deion and Bucky take a private jet to LA after their much-talked-about Vegas trip. Mathis, however, is more than just a pale imitation.

Just two days ago, when Potential 2025 No. 1 overall pick got called out for “bulls***ing” his practice session for a water break by rival Miami QB Cam Ward, No. 13 decided to stick his head out, reasoning for Shedeur. It wasn’t just your usual brief back-and-forth. It soon turned to Ward comparing practice performances. Was this a long time coming, considering how his team hailed the Spirit of Miami U in a blowout victory last year with Ward doting 288 yards passing and two TDs?

“We throwing comebacks and you just loftin’ [the ball], you placing, you not throwing it,” Ward said. “Come on, man.”
Shedeur, who was sacked four times in that regular season game, came back, “I know, I got another year of development, bro. Hey, he dissin’.” Mathis, on the other hand, later responded on X, citing the reasons to back Shedeur up.

“He wasn’t late we all left from the same place. He had to wait on his car from valet.”

The camaraderie between Shedeur and Mathis, however, goes way back; their fathers have long known each other. Deion Sanders was wrapping up things at Jackson State, and it ended with a lost bid for an undefeated season in the Celebration Bowl. Let alone following Sanders to the Folsom Field, cornerbacks coach and Kaleb’s father Kevin Mathis would be there with him right from the start… more precisely, ever since they were teammates in the Dallas Cowboys to even that Saturday night when they decided to go for a CU campus visit and beyond.

“I didn’t call my mom; I didn’t get a text message from Coach Prime“: Kevin Mathis reflects on his worst pro career injury

Back in 2000, Jerry Jones phoned Mathis to drop the unexpected… that he would be traded due to his injury history and what was a lot of turnover for the Cowboys. “My mouth just dropped because I went from up here to now I am down here,” he reflected on June 8’s Pregame show. He started as the cornerback for all 16 games in that season with the New Orleans Saints, raking in 73 total tackles and one interception. However, danger lurked not so long ahead that would practically halt his career for months!

In a crucial game against the Washington Commanders, running back Ki-Jana Carter squared his head gear fairly against Mathis’, leaving him paralyzed as his back thumped flat on the ground. He recollected, “I go back, and I am paralyzed. Can’t move, keep touching, can’t feel it.”  Turns out what was deemed a season-ending injury that would see him sustain a damaged cervical spine, he would return to play 11 games for the Falcons the following year.

“At this point, it is two weeks before my first daughter was born, so I am just sitting at the house. At this point, they send me to doctor after doctor after doctor to see if it’s okay, if I can play. Nobody will clear me, but nobody would say, ‘No, you can’t play.’ This went from January all the way to August.

Getting back to that morning when I got hurt, I used to call my mom before every game, every morning. That morning, I didn’t. I used to get a text message from Coach Prime. He used to send out these text messages every Sunday just to certain people. As I look back, I didn’t call my mom that morning and I didn’t get a text message from Coach Prime. Those are the little things that, for some reason, just stuck with me when I look back.”

Mathis’ poignant reflection on what was one of the most dreaded periods of his career draws on how close he and Coach Prime have been since the two Dallas boys were just starting out. And their sons, too, is a perfect rendition of the CU Fight song: “Shoulder to shoulder, we will fight.” And the fight is about to begin against the North Dakota State on August 29!