Inside Deion Sanders' Friendship with a 99-Year-Old Colorado Superfan: 'She’s a Pillar of Love'

The fan, Peggy Coppom, has attended thousands of Buffaloes games with her identical twin, who died in 2020

Football brought Deion Sanders and 99-year-old Peggy Coppom together, but their friendship has grown far beyond that.

Sanders, 56, met Coppom, a University of Colorado football superfan, in January, just a month after he stepped into his new role as the Colorado Buffaloes’ head coach, according to USA Today.

Coppom has been a local icon for years, along with her late identical twin, Betty Hoover. Before Hoover died in 2020 at age 95, the Colorado natives had attended more than 3,000 Buffaloes games — across all sports — together since 1940, per USA Today.

Related: Deion Sanders Isn't Bothered by Criticism of His Coaching Style: 'I'm Brutally Honest' (Exclusive)

Since meeting at the beginning of this year, Coppom’s friendship with Coach Prime has become a beacon of light for the Colorado team.

The wholesome duo “hit it off” right away, she told the publication.

“Well, my gosh, this year, first of all, it’s been unbelievable, and it’s been a lot of fun. There’s been a lot of excitement and a lot of public recognition, which I didn’t ever feel like I should have,” she continued. “But anyway, it happened because of my friendship with him.”

Besides their desire for the Buffaloes to win, the pair's friendship is based on their shared perseverance and unwavering positivity.

“She don’t have bad days; I don’t have bad days. That’s why we connect," Sanders told USA Today. “I’ve never seen Peggy with a bad attitude or mad about something. It don’t happen. I love her for that. She’s so consistent.”

Coppom echoed this, telling the outlet that she tries to be “upbeat all the time,” even when she is missing her sister, who had pancreatic cancer.

"I don’t know what you mean by a bad day,” she said. “If you mean, 'Do I cry occasionally?' Yes, I do cry occasionally, but my parents brought us up to make the best of things, and I never ever heard my parents complain about anything.”

Related: Deion Sanders Reveals 3rd Sport He Could've Played Professionally After Starring in NFL and MLB (Exclusive)

“I try to be optimistic, but I’m realistic about life, too. I know there’s suffering and sadness and all that,” she continued. “You have to accept it, but you don’t accept it with being a burden to others or to yourself.”

Added Coppom: “Actually, when you don’t rise above some of those things with a smile eventually, then you’re hurting yourself and those around you. So you’ve got to overcome those things and carry on.”

Since befriending Sanders, carrying on has gotten much easier, at least “in the sense that it’s given her something else to think about” besides Hoover’s absence, said Dail, Coppom’s son.

Related: Deion Sanders Wants ‘More Privacy’ as He Reflects on ‘Adversity’ in First Season with Colorado (Exclusive)

But the Buffaloes legend still thinks of Hoover — who was immortalized on the Colorado campus in 2021 with a plaque honoring “The Twins” — often, and talks to her in spirit.

“I keep telling Betty, 'Help me through this, Betty. I wish you were here, you know?’” she told USA Today, adding that she and her twin sister “were very close.”

As for Sanders, who promised to “get Peggy to a bowl game next year” earlier this month, Coppom said she now considers him “a good friend.”

Describing the qualities she admires in the Pro Football Hall of Famer, she told the publication that “he cares about his family.”

“He takes care of his family, and I like the fact he’s not reluctant to express his faith in God, and all those things,” she said, adding, “You have a few things in common when you have friendships.”

Related: Deion Sanders Calls Out Players for Walking Away from Practice Melee: 'If One Fights, We All Fight'

And Coppom — who appeared alongside Sanders on his Sports Illustrated 2023 Sportsperson of the Year cover — is loved by the coach as well as the entire team.

In a clip shared by the team’s Instagram account in September, Sanders and his players can be seen singing, dancing and cheering on the 99-year-old in the locker room after she yells, “Give me my theme music!”

“Protect Peggy at all costs,” the team commented.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Sanders, his players and the entire Buffaloes fanbase have rallied behind Coppom, and her son believes that the attention his mother has been given is entirely warranted.

“She always comments to me that 'I can’t believe how this has all happened,' and 'Why is this happening to me?'” Dail told USA Today. “I said, 'It’s because people like the energy you’re giving off.”

“People like to hear good things for a change in the media,” he added.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.