Colorado’s resurgent football season reached a new high in Week 12, and not because of the Buffaloes’ 49-24 victory over Utah.
Peggy Coppom, the pom-pom-waving Colorado superfan known to just about everyone in Boulder, turned 100 in an emotional pregame ceremony on ESPN’s College Game Day. The centenarian has missed only three Buffaloes home games since 1966, and this year, head coach Deion Sanders has dedicated the Buffaloes’ season to taking ‘Miss Peggy’ to a bowl game.
In the end, the festivities were overwhelming. Coppom began to cry after being presented with a beautiful Buffaloes-themed cake as the ESPN crew, former Colorado quarterback Kordell Stewart and thousands of fans began to serenade him with ‘Happy Birthday.’
“I haven’t even understood it yet, but I cried,” Miss Peggy later told reporters, quoted by Fox News. “I just thank God for my life and for all the friends and for everything that has happened to me.”
Even the spectators were caught up in the emotion of the moment.
Coppom started crying after being given a Buffalo-themed cake
Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders stands with fan Peggy Coppom, then 98, in 2022. On Tuesday, Coppom turned 100 in Boulder.
“This makes me cry,” wrote one fan on X.
Others quickly became captivated by Coppom.
“She’s so cute,” one woman wrote of Coppom, who is often seen wearing a ’90s Colorado Starter jacket. “It warmed my heart when they started singing.”
“She’s a Colorado legend,” another fan commented. “God bless this incredible woman and her passion and heart are beyond special.”
Of course, the day was slightly marred by the absence of Coppom’s twin sister, Betty Hoover, who passed away in 2020 due to illness.
“I just wish my twin sister was here,” Coppom said. ‘It all started because we were twins. “I can’t deny that we’ve been loyal fans, but I said getting all this attention just for having a good time is amazing.”
Fans and non-fans alike were caught up in the spirit of the moment as Coppom turned 100 years old.
Colorado Buffaloes super fan Miss Peggy Coppom celebrates her 100th birthday with the Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball team on Tuesday.
Twins Peggy Coppom, left, and Betty Hoover cheer on the Buffs years earlier
Peggy Coppom, left, and her sister Betty Hoover praying in church in 2005.
As always, Coach Prime had nothing but praise for Coppom.
“It’s amazing that God would find two people from two different walks of life, two different generations and bring them together like He has,” Sanders said of his relationship with the Buffs’ biggest fan.
“She always greeted me with love, compassion, support, stability and hope,” he said. ‘I’m grateful to know her, I’m grateful she can contact me whenever she wants and I’m grateful to celebrate her 100th birthday with her.
‘She is the epitome of the CU Buffs. She is the epitome of Buff Nation. She is the rock that keeps us all together and I am grateful to know her. I really am.’
Sanders even hopes to launch a clothing line in his honor, something Coppom certainly appreciates.
“He’s given all this attention to our entire community and the university,” Coppom said. ‘All this is incredible. So that’s what it is, something incredible.’
Coppom attended Colorado, but stayed only a year before marrying an Air Force pilot and starting a family. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that his sister also married an Air Force pilot.