The legal woes of Colorado State starting safety Shiloh Sanders are being closely watched as a nearly decade-long saga continues to unfold. Sanders, 24, the son of Buffalo head coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, was ordered to pay nearly $12 million to a former security guard in October by a Texas court. He later filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
That’s according to court records in Texas and Colorado obtained and reviewed this week. CompetitorJohn Darjean claims Sanders, then 15, attacked Darjean during an argument at Triple A Academy in 2015, causing damage to Darjean’s cervical spine , and develop permanent neurological problems. Sanders claimed in court records that Darjean was the aggressor.
In an era of college sports where athletes can profit from name, image and likeness rights, Sanders’ bankruptcy declaration has called into question his personal net worth.
Darjean and his attorneys claim in court documents that Sanders failed to properly disclose his assets when he filed for bankruptcy. After the Texas District Court held a civil trial in March 2022 and ruled in favor of Darjean, they are still seeking to recover the $11.89 million in damages that Darjean was ordered to pay. Sanders failed to attend the trial and claimed in court documents that he could not afford legal representation at the time, that he was never notified of a new trial date and that he was not informed of the default judgment until 2023.
According to court documents in April 2020, his previous lawyers withdrew from the case en masse after being told by Sanders that “he was unwilling or unable to continue to fund the defense of this case.” Sanders’ bankruptcy filing in Colorado noted that he was a graduate student seeking a “fresh start in life.”
On January 16, 2024, as part of Paris Fashion Week, Shilo Sanders appeared in the Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2024/2025 men’s ready-to-wear collection.
This week, Sanders and his attorneys filed a motion in Dallas District Court to seal 21 court records dating back to August 2017 that they claim contain “sensitive and confidential information” related to Sanders. The motion alleges that Dageon has been in violation of a 2018 preliminary protective order on various social media platforms in recent years, part of an ongoing dispute over what information should be kept secret because Sanders was a minor when the incidents occurred .
In April, Darjean appeared on Jason Whitlock’s “Fearless” for a 90-minute interview in which he detailed his story and included video testimony from Deion Sanders. Darjean claimed that a former administrator at the school “stole” surveillance footage of the altercation and gave it to Deion Sanders. The former Cowboys star cornerback told TMZ in 2016 that Dageon was a “liar in real life.”
A spokesperson for the University of Colorado said Wednesday that the university and Deion and Shiloh Sanders “will reserve comment as the litigation remains ongoing.” Lawyers for Sanders and Darjean did not respond to requests for comment.
suspected attack
Video obtained by TMZ in 2016 shows the early stages of the altercation and alleged assault on September 17, 2015. Sanders shakes off the attempt, and the film then cuts to a scuffle taking place in the distance and spilling into the school’s foyer.
Both sides claimed the dispute was related to Sanders speaking on the phone to his mother, Pilar, in violation of school policy. Dajean’s lawsuit alleges that Sanders elbowed him in the neck and chest before hitting Darjean multiple times in the same area, calling the attack “sudden, unexpected and unprovoked.”
Sanders’ version of the story is markedly different, according to documents filed in bankruptcy court in February. Dageon allegedly became too violent with the teen. Sanders said he was pinned against the wall by Darjean for more than a minute, unable to move. The ordeal was witnessed by school principal Ruda Nash, who was one of several staffers who tried to remove Darjean from Sanders, according to Sanders. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services received a written statement from Nash, who said Darjean choked Sanders and threw him to the ground. Nash said that after they finally separated, Sanders called 911.
In addition to differing versions of what happened, Deion Sanders and Darjean knew each other before the incident. Darjean is a former New York Yankees pitcher who coaches youth baseball in the community. Deion Sanders also served as the head football coach at Triple A Academy for two seasons in 2015 and 2016. Deion Sanders personally called him and asked him to take away Shilo’s phone because he was dismissive of Shilo. They divorced in 2013.
In June 2016, Darjean first filed a lawsuit against Dionne, Pilar and Shiloh in Dallas District Court, alleging that he suffered “serious and permanent injuries.” Deion Sanders was eventually removed from the lawsuit in January 2019.
“I tried to contact him and he didn’t come to the hospital to see me, he didn’t say, ‘Hey man, I know my son did something wrong,'” Darjean said on Whitlock’s show. “He flipped the script and sent a video to TMZ saying I was the attacker and that I assaulted his son.”
A year later, in June 2017, Darjean filed a defamation lawsuit against Deion Sanders over comments Sanders made on TMZ. The case was ultimately dismissed in February 2019 without prosecution.
A YouTube channel called “Truth Prime Time” was created in November 2021. A month ago, a separate YouTube video asking for donations to a GoFundMe account revealed that Darjean’s medical bills had exceeded $900,000 and that Sanders had yet to complete the payments. It has received $150 of its $800,000 goal.
Collect Judgments and NILs
Darjean and his attorneys claimed in bankruptcy court that Sanders had not been transparent about all of its assets stemming from NIL field demands.
Sanders began his college career at South Carolina and later transferred to Jackson State and Colorado to play for his father, becoming one of the greatest stories in sports as the Buffs under Deion Sanders , Sanders has been part of the high-profile NIL deal.
Shilo recently guest-starred on Starz’s hit show “BMF,” in which he played his father. In January, Shilo and his brother Shedeur, Colorado’s starting quarterback, walked the runway for the Louis Vuitton fall/winter fashion show in Paris. He has shot commercials for Google with Shedeur and starred in campaigns for Kentucky Fried Chicken and Oikos yogurt with his father and siblings.
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Sanders revealed when he filed for bankruptcy in Colorado court last year that he would earn $193,713 in gross income in 2023, compared with $216,950 in net income the year before in his final season at Jackson State. It also shows his liabilities, primarily court judgments starting in 2022, are estimated at $11.3 million. His claimed assets include a 2023 Mercedes GLE worth $75,900. The necklace, valued at $75,000, was later removed as an asset.
Court documents say Darjean claimed Sanders was worth more than the $320,000 reported in his bankruptcy filing — and that he believed Sanders had transferred the money to one of his two limited liability companies, Big 21 and SS21.
“It is Hilo’s zero value and/or public value that is the source of non-stop paid campaigns and social media appearances,” Dageon’s complaint reads, according to Westword, a Denver-based independent publication. The independent publication, which first reported Sanders’ bankruptcy case on May 24, downloaded the documents before they were sealed this month. “The entire basis of the NIL concept is the value of individual athletes, but Shilo chose not only to disclose it through the two entities (Big 21 LLC and/or SS21 LLC), but Shilo also deliberately failed to identify and disclose it anywhere in the timeline. His personal NIL property interest.
Sanders’ attorneys dispute that claim, pointing out that records of Sanders’ meetings with creditors clearly show that his NIL agreement was always with Big 21, LLC, and therefore was for the assessed assets of Sanders’ estate as claimed part.
“This allegation is based purely on speculation and media ‘hype’ and has no basis in fact or reality,” Sanders’ attorneys wrote.
Sanders has filed a motion for summary judgment, which has also been sealed by the judge. If approved, Dageon would not be able to collect fees based on the Texas judgment. Darjean’s lawyers filed a request last week to extend the response deadline to June 24.
(Top photo: Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
