Colorado football wide receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. had himself a game in the Buffs’ season opener against North Dakota State.
Horn posted a career-high 198 receiving yards on Thursday night, making seven catches and reeling in a 69-yard touchdown in the 31-26 win. Last year, he posted a career-high 11 receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown in the Buffs’ Week 1 victory over TCU.
This year, however, CU head coach Deion Sanders mentioned that Horn’s heart was heavier than usual.
“Jimmy is playing for pop, man,” Sanders said postgame. “Jimmy just came back from court seeing his father’s sentence, man. And he’s gonna turn around and flip it and come out there and give you that?… That keeps him going because he’s trying to make it right for pops when he gets out.”
Jimmy Horn Sr. has been incarcerated for several years on drug-related charges but recently got resentenced.
Coach Prime backed the Horn family on Aug. 14, the day of the sentencing, releasing a message to the Florida judge dealing with the case. The Well Off Media YouTube channel, run by his son Deion Sanders Jr., released the video.
“I’ve talked to Jimmy Horn Sr. and truly he has served a multitude of years,” Coach Prime said in the video. “He has repented of what has transpired and he is truly a different man. I just wish to God you could see in your heart an opportunity that he could come out of incarceration and have a chance to resume his fatherly responsibility in which he was very, very good at.”
Amid a challenging month, Jimmy Horn Jr. was back on the field and thriving to begin his final collegiate season. He looks to continue to produce, hoping to “make it right for pops when he gets out,” as Coach Prime said.
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