Sports
Why Deion Sanders' son Shilo filed for bankruptcy, what's next in Colorado safety's legal saga
Colorado starting safety Shilo Sanders’ legal woes are under scrutiny as a near decade-long saga continues to unfurl. Sanders, the 24-year-old son of Buffaloes head coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy last October on the heels of a Texas court judgment against him for nearly $12 million in damages owed to a former security guard at his Dallas high school following an alleged assault.
According to court records in Texas and Colorado obtained and reviewed this week by The Athletic, John Darjean alleged that Sanders, then 15, assaulted Darjean during an altercation at Triple A Academy in 2015, leaving Darjean with damage to his cervical spine and permanent neurological issues. Sanders has claimed in court records that it was Darjean who was the aggressor.
Sanders’ declaration of bankruptcy has brought into question his personal net worth in an era in college sports when athletes can cash in on name, image and likeness rights.
Darjean and his lawyers claim in court documents that Sanders didn’t properly disclose his assets when he filed for bankruptcy. They are still seeking to collect on the $11.89 million judgment he was ordered to pay after a March 2022 civil trial in a Texas district court ruled in favor of Darjean. Sanders failed to appear at the trial and claims in court documents that he could not afford legal representation at the time, notice of new trial dates never reached him and he did not learn of the default judgment until 2023.
According to April 2020 court documents, his previous lawyers collectively withdrew from the case due to being informed by Sanders “that he is unwilling or unable to continue funding the defense of this case.” Sanders’ bankruptcy filings in Colorado note that he is a graduate student looking for a “fresh start in life.”
Shilo Sanders appeared in the Louis Vuitton Menswear Ready-to-wear Fall-Winter 2024/2025 collection as part of Paris Fashion Week on Jan. 16, 2024. (Alain Jocard / AFP via Getty Images)
This week, Sanders and his lawyers filed a motion in a Dallas area court to seal 21 court records dating to August 2017 they state feature “sensitive and confidential information” relating to Sanders. The motion stated that Darjean has been violating the initial protective order set in 2018 on various social media platforms in recent years, part of an ongoing dispute over what information should be kept under wraps as Sanders was a minor at the time of the incident.
This April, Darjean appeared on “Fearless with Jason Whitlock” for a 90-minute sit-down interview in which he details his side of the story and includes video testimony from Deion Sanders. Darjean alleged 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 Darjean was “a real-life grifter.”
A University of Colorado spokesperson said Wednesday that the university, as well as Deion and Shilo Sanders, “are going to reserve comment as the litigation is ongoing.” Lawyers for Sanders and Darjean did not respond to requests for comment.
The alleged assault
Video obtained by TMZ in 2016 shows the early stages of the altercation and alleged assault on Sept. 17, 2015. Darjean approaches Sanders on the school’s basketball court and grabs Sanders’ right arm. Sanders shakes off the attempt before the video cuts to a scuffle taking place in the distance as it spills into the school’s foyer.
Both parties claim the dispute had to do with Sanders talking on his phone, which was against school policy, to his mother, Pilar. Darjean’s lawsuit stated Sanders attacked him by elbowing him in the neck and chest before striking Darjean several times more in the same area and called the attack “sudden, unexpected, unprovoked.”
According to documents filed with the bankruptcy court in February, Sanders’ version of the story is markedly different. It states that Darjean became overly physical with the teenager. Sanders said he was pressed up against a wall for over a minute by Darjean and couldn’t move. The school’s principal, Ruda Nash, witnessed the ordeal and was one of several staff members who attempted 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 held Sanders by the neck before throwing him to the ground. After they were eventually separated, Sanders dialed 911, according to Nash.
Beyond the dissenting claims of what transpired, Deion Sanders and Darjean knew each other before the incident. Darjean, a former pitcher in the New York Yankees organization, coached 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. In his interview on Whitlock’s show in April, Darjean claims that Deion Sanders called him personally to take the phone away from Shilo because of his disdain for Pilar, his ex-wife. They were divorced in 2013.
In June 2016, Darjean first filed the lawsuit against Deion, Pilar and Shilo in Dallas District Court alleging his “severe and permanent injuries.” Deion Sanders was eventually removed from the suit in January 2019.
“I tried to reach out to him, he didn’t come visit me in the hospital, he didn’t say, ‘Hey man, I know my son did you wrong,’” Darjean said on Whitlock’s show. “He flipped the script and sent a piece of video to TMZ and said I was the aggressor and said I attacked his son.”
A year later, in June 2017, Darjean filed a defamation suit against Deion Sanders for Sanders’ comments to TMZ. The case would eventually be dismissed for want of prosecution in February 2019.
A YouTube channel titled “Prime Time for The Truth” was created in November 2021. It previously had deposition video of Deion Sanders, but has since been removed. A separate YouTube video was made a month ago asking for donations to a GoFundMe account that states that Darjean’s medical bills have exceeded $900,000 and that Sanders has yet to complete his payments. It has received $150 of the $800,000 goal.
Collecting on the judgment and NIL
Darjean and his lawyers allege in bankruptcy court that Sanders hasn’t been transparent about the entirety of his assets that came from being in demand in the NIL landscape.
Sanders, who began his collegiate career at South Carolina before transferring to play for his father at Jackson State and ultimately Colorado, has been part of high-profile NIL deals as the Buffs under Deion Sanders became one of the biggest stories in sports.
Shilo was recently featured in a cameo 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 in Paris for the fall-winter show for Louis Vuitton. He’s been in commercials for Google alongside Shedeur and has starred in marketing campaigns alongside his dad and siblings for Kentucky Fried Chicken and Oikos yogurt.
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In his bankruptcy filing in Colorado court last year, Sanders revealed he had a gross income of $193,713 in 2023, while netting $216,950 the year before in his last season at Jackson State. It also showed his liabilities — mainly the court judgment from 2022 — an estimated $11.3 million. Among his claimed assets is a 2023 Mercedes GLE valued at $75,900. Necklaces valued at $75,000 were later removed as assets.
Court filings say Darjean has alleged that Sanders is worth more than the reported $320,000 on his bankruptcy filing — he believes Sanders transferred money into one of his two LLCs, Big 21 and SS21.
“It is Shilo’s very NIL value and/or public value that are the source of the non-stop paid engagements and social media appearances,” Darjean’s complaint reads, according to Westword, an independent publication based in Denver that first reported on Sanders’ bankruptcy case May 24 and downloaded the filing before it was sealed this month. “The entire underpinning of the NIL concept is the value of the individual athlete, but Shilo chose not only to hide the value of the entire NIL endeavor with the ‘unknown’ listings for the two of the entities that were disclosed (Big 21 LLC and/or SS21 LLC), but also Shilo intentionally failed to identify and disclose his individual NIL property interest anywhere in the schedules.”
Sanders’ lawyers disputed the claim by noting that the transcript of Sanders’ meeting with creditors makes it clear that his NIL agreements were always done with Big 21, LLC, and therefore were part of the assets of Sanders’ claimed estate estimate.
“This allegation is based on pure conjecture and media ‘hype,’ without hav(ing) any basis in fact and reality,” Sanders’ lawyers wrote.
Sanders has filed a motion for summary judgment, which has also been sealed by the judge. If it is granted, Darjean would not be able to collect on the judgment in Texas. Darjean’s lawyer filed a request last week to extend the deadline for a response to June 24.
(Top photo: Dustin Bradford / Getty Images)
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The former Michigan staffer with whom Sherrone Moore allegedly had an inappropriate relationship that led to his firing and subsequent arrest is not thrilled that Moore seemingly got off easy.
Moore was fired for his relationship with Paige Shiver on Dec. 10. Soon after the firing, he was jailed after allegedly breaking into her house and threatening to kill himself.
Moore was sentenced to 18 months probation and ordered to pay just over $1,000 in fines, which was not enough for Shiver.
Sherrone Moore of the Michigan Wolverines during the second half against the Maryland Terrapins at SECU Stadium Nov. 22, 2025, in College Park, Md. (Chris Bernacchi/Diamond Images)
“December 10th was the most terrifying day of my life,” Shiver said in a statement after Moore’s sentencing Tuesday, via the New York Post.
“The criminal acts he committed were extremely frightening and violent. He broke into my apartment, crying, yelling, enraged and came at me with knives. I was threatened, and I feared for my life.
“Today’s sentence does not reflect the harm done to me or the objective evidence in this case.”
An Action Injury Law Group statement obtained by Fox News Channel last month claimed Shiver endured “years of manipulation, harassment and exploitation by a man who held enormous power over her professional life as the head football coach of one of the nation’s most prominent college football programs.”
Shiver’s attorneys questioned Michigan’s entire athletic program after the incident, adding their client believes “she may not be the only person who experienced inappropriate, coercive or predatory behavior from this individual.”
Former University of Michigan head football coach Sherrone Moore is sworn in with his attorney, Ellen Michaels, before he takes a plea in front of Judge J. Cedric Simpson at the 14A-1 District Court in Ann Arbor March 6, 2026. (Mandi Wright/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
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Moore and the alleged victim had an “intimate relationship for a number of years,” a prosecutor said during an initial hearing shortly after his arrest.
In an Ann Arbor courtroom, Moore thanked his wife, Kelli, for her support while saying he took the process “very seriously.” The judge in the case told Moore that he “take[s] her for granted.”
Prosecutors accused Moore of contacting the staffer via phone calls and texts after the breakup, prompting the woman to contact the University of Michigan and cooperate in its investigation. Moore was subsequently fired from his position as head football coach, which prosecutors said prompted him to show up at her home.
Moore then allegedly “barged” his way into the residence, grabbed a butter knife and a pair of kitchen scissors and began threatening his own life. According to prosecutors, Moore allegedly told the staffer, “My blood is on your hands” and “You ruined my life.”
Moore pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors to resolve the felony criminal case.
Moore went 16-8 as Michigan’s head coach — 8-5 in his first season and 7-3 last season. He missed a pair of games due to a suspension from a sign-stealing investigation.
Former University of Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore listens to attorney Ellen K. Michaels during an appearance in front of Judge J. Cedric Simpson at a probable cause hearing at 14A-1 District Court in Ann Arbor Jan. 22, 2026 (Eric Seals/USA Today Network)
Moore replaced Jim Harbaugh after the team completed a 15-0 season en route to a national championship. Moore was the offensive coordinator of that squad.
Fox News’ Scott Thompson, Paulina Dedaj, and Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
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The last time Deandre Ayton appeared in the playoffs was in 2023, when he was a member of the Phoenix Suns and viewed in NBA circles as having the potential to be a force as a center in the league.
A lot has changed since then.
He’s on his second team since those days in Phoenix, playing two years for the Portland Trail Blazers and now the Lakers. He has been viewed by many as an inconsistent player who hasn’t reached his full potential.
Ayton has a chance to prove his worth, to show his critics he has the ability to be elite in the postseason when the Lakers open the first-round of the Western Conference playoffs Saturday against the Houston Rockets at Crypto.com Arena.
“I love playing this game and I take great passion of playing on both ends of the floor,,” Ayton said after practice Wednesday. “I still believe just being a two-way player in this league, that’s truly my second nature, and that’s how I want to be noted as in this league. It’s just being an all-around, two-way superstar. Just taking passion on both ends of the floor.
“I can play hard on offense. I can play hard on defense. So, that’s just really my goal — running the floor always and closing out possessions with rebounds and protecting the rim. So, just trying to enhance everything I can coming into the playoffs.”
Ayton averaged career lows in points (12.5), rebounds (8.0) and minutes (27.2) this season. But he did play a career-high 72 games and shot a career-best 67.1% from the field.
In the three seasons Ayton reached the playoffs with the Suns, he was a double-double machine, averaging 15.9 points and 10.5 rebounds in 45 postseason games.
The Lakers will need that version of Ayton, especially with star guards Luka Doncic (hamstring strain) and Austin Reaves (oblique strain) out indefinitely.
“I’ve shown it,” Ayton said. “So, it’s just me accepting the role I’m in and playing hard as hell in that role. That’s about it. Every night.”
In seven seasons before he arrived in Los Angeles, Ayton averaged a double-double. When the Lakers signed him to a two-year, $16-million deal with a player option, they hoped to get that Ayton.
Lakers center Deandre Ayton deflects a shot by Nets guard Nolan Traore last month at Crypto.com Arena.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
“The whole season for him has been about finding consistency,” coach JJ Redick said. “When he’s at his best, we’re an elite basketball team. That’s just the reality. He raises our ceiling so much — and it’s on both sides of the ball. It’s not him being able to score 24 points, although when he scores and shoots, we typically win. … He’s just a really good basketball player and we’re very happy with where he’s at.”
Ayton was asked to evaluate his season.
“I was challenged a lot this season and I feel like I embraced everything that was thrown at me,” he said. “It took some time, but I eventually got control of everything. And I think I got a hang of it and I like it. I got the guys on the team that helped me embrace everything that’s going on.
“And just things we have going, with the dilemmas and the injuries, I feel like we’ve been through this the whole year. Just guys going out and guys having big games. And we’re the team where you don’t know who’s gonna have the 30 points, or this or that. We’re just going to play hard and just play together.”
Ayton will have his hands full with Rockets All-Star center Alperen Sengun, who averages 20.4 points and 8.9 rebounds.
“It’s the postseason, you know?” Ayton said. “It’s called mano y mano and it’s not always Xs, and O’s. You got to stop the man and guard your yard.”
When the Suns reached the 2021 Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks, there were times when Ayton was considered the second-best player on his team. Over six games he averaged 14.7 points and 12 rebounds and shot 53.1% from the field.
Game 1 of the best-of-seven series for the Lakers is on the horizon, and Ayton is excited to show what he has to offer now that he’s back in the playoffs.
“Almost speechless, especially being on this side of town now, you know, playing in L.A. when I was on the other side,” he said. “This place can get pretty loud. And I’m still trying to just go home and embrace everything. I know we haven’t ramped up yet, but coming out of these practices, JJ gives you so much. And you have to dissect it sometimes, and you’re thinking about the environment, you think about the fans, thinking about the first game as a Laker in the playoffs.
“So, I just try to find some time to catch myself and gather and just just relax. I’ve been here before, but I am truly excited. I want to do backflips. I’m in the purple and gold, and I just want to really just play hard as hell to contribute to wins.”
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In just over two months, soccer fans will descend on stadiums across North America for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. But those thousands of fans won’t get to take part in a long-running pregame tradition — at least at the venues located in the U.S.
FIFA is set to ban pregame tailgating at U.S. stadiums during the tournament, according to multiple reports Tuesday. NFL venues such as Arrowhead Stadium, Gillette Stadium and Lincoln Financial Field, among others, were listed as host sites where fans will not be allowed to tailgate this summer.
It was not immediately clear what led to the decision or why it is being introduced.
A general view shows the empty parking lot at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sept. 14, 2020, as no fans were allowed at the NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants. (Robert Deutsch/USA TODAY Sports)
The governing body and tournament organizer may be aiming to prevent crowd-control issues similar to those that surfaced when Copa América was held in Miami. Large gatherings outside stadium entry gates fueled logistical hurdles.
Tailgating has long been synonymous with American sports culture, giving fans a budget-friendly way to enjoy the game-day atmosphere.
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But with that option gone, fans may encounter a very different pregame scene this summer. While FIFA will oversee venues during the tournament, the atmosphere outside them could ultimately prove more challenging to manage.
Real Madrid fans tailgate outside MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, before the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 semi-final match against Paris Saint-Germain on July 9, 2025. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
The move to outlaw tailgating comes as several host cities adjust transportation plans to ease traffic flow around World Cup venues. Fans attending matches at MetLife Stadium in the New York area will not be able to park in the stadium’s usual gameday lots.
Fans of Real Madrid tailgate in a parking lot outside Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group H match against FC Red Bull Salzburg on June 26, 2025. (Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images)
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Public transportation is expected to be the primary alternative, though travelers may face higher fares to cross state lines. New Jersey Transit could charge more than $100 for round-trip service to MetLife Stadium during games, The Athletic reported.
On a typical day, the 18-mile commute commands a fare of less than $13.
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