Colorado head coach Deion Sanders is calling on the NCAA or the Rose Bowl to reimburse his players after they allegedly had items stolen from the locker room during last weekend’s 28-16 loss at UCLA.
Sanders said his players had jewelry, cash and other items taken from them while the game was going on, and UCLA, which plays home games at the Rose Bowl, filed a police report with the Pasadena Police Department.
The city of Pasadena released a statement Monday to BuffZone.com stating that Pasadena Police were notified of a theft at 9:22 p.m. on Saturday and that the theft involved “several pieces of jewelry and other miscellaneous personal and football items.”
“Our kids got robbed during the game last week. I think that’s a travesty,” Sanders told reporters Tuesday. “I would expect the NCAA to do something about that.
“This is the Rose Bowl. They said the granddaddy of ’em all, right? I’m sure granddaddy had some money. Grandpa should have some money to give these kids.”
The exact specifics of what was stolen from Colorado’s locker room haven’t been revealed, and Passadena’s statement Monday indicated that the value of the loss was “undetermined.”
Sanders told reporters he would have his players make a list of the items that had been taken in an effort to get them back, or at the very least be reimbursed.
“They may not be able to get the items back, but they should be able to reimburse them. That was unbelievable,” he said. “It don’t make no sense when you’re out there ballin’ and playing your heart out and you get robbed at the same [time]. I hope we can do something about that, NCAA. You do something about everything else.
“Do something about that.”
The Rose Bowl is 26 miles northeast of UCLA’s campus, and the stadium itself is managed by a nonprofit organization, the Rose Bowl Operating Company.
The city of Pasadena owns the historic venue.
Colorado is 4-4 this season and 1-4 in Pac-12 play.
The Buffaloes have also dropped four of their last five games as they gear up for a matchup with No. 16 Oregon this week.