Buffs’ safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig the ‘heartbeat’ of Colorado’s resurgent defense

In the summer of 2019, CamRon Silmon-Craig showed up to Trinity Christian (Texas) High School as a junior with an ego bigger than his size.

It didnt take long for the Trinity coaches, including offensive coordinator Deion Sanders, to humble Silmon-Craig a bit.

When I first met Coach Prime, I felt like I was a better player than I actually was, Silmon-Craig, now a senior with the Colorado Buffaloes, said this week.

When I first met him, I felt like I was the best thing since sliced bread until I met him.

Then I kind of learned what it was to be great, and how to go be great every day and be consistent every day.

More than five years later, Silmon-Craig is still taking that advice to heart and hes one of the leaders of a defense that is doing its part to put the 16th-ranked Buffs (8-2, 6-1 Big 12) in contention for a conference championship.

CU will visit Kansas (4-6, 3-4) on Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.

(1:30 p.m., Fox), looking to extend a four-game winning streak.

While Heisman Trophy front-runner Travis Hunter and star quarterback Shedeur Sanders receive the most attention, and rightfully so, Silmon-Craig might be the most overlooked star at CU.

A 5-foot-10, 185-pound safety, Silmon-Craig is arguably the MVP of a Buffaloes defense that is dramatically improved from last year and proving to be nasty bunch week after week.

Coach Prime has called Silmon-Craig the heartbeat of the CU defense.

One of the scouts just asked me about Cam, and I went on and on and on, because he checks every box, Coach Prime said.

You put a clock on him, he may not run a 4.4 (second 40-yard dash).

You put him on the bench press, he may not bench to 225 (pounds) 15 and 20 times.

But you put the tape on, youre gonna see him.

Hes gonna not only show up, he gonna show out.

Hes the leader of our defense.

He is the backbone of that defense.

When hes off the field, we hurt.

So I love everything that he brings to the table, and hes been that way since I met him as a junior from Alabama.

Fortunately for CU, Silmon-Craig hasnt been off the field much.

He leads the team with 76 tackles and ranks third with 6.5 tackles for loss.

He also has two sacks, two fumble recoveries one of which he returned 93 yards for a touchdown to seal a 48-21 win at Central Florida three pass breakups and five quarterback hurries.

Silmon-Craig currently ranks fifth nationally in solo tackles, with 58.

Hes been doing the same thing (for years), said fellow safety Shilo Sanders, who has played next to Silmon-Craig for four years.

You guys just havent seen it, but hes been playing like this ever since Ive known him, basically.

Even in high school, we didnt go to the same high school at the same time.

...

but, he was the guy up there.

Silmon-Craig grew up in Birmingham, Ala., attending Fultondale High School as a freshman and sophomore.

He transferred to Trinity Christian in Cedar Hill, Texas, for his junior year.

Lightly recruited out of high school as a smaller safety, he chose Jackson State after Coach Prime was hired as the Tigers head coach.

After two stellar seasons at JSU, Silmon-Craig followed Coach Prime to Boulder in 2023.

Along the way, all Silmon-Craig has done is produce.

In his four seasons of college football, hes recorded 231 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks, eight interceptions and five fumble recoveries.

Hes done all of that, in part, fueled by the fact that hes been somewhat overlooked.

I feel like I always had that (underdog mentality), he said.

The chip on my shoulder is just there.

Im gonna always feel like the underdog no matter what.

Im still working.

I havent gotten to my goal yet.

Staying humble and grinding through the work is something he learned from Coach Prime back at Trinity several years ago.

Asked about his growth under the tutelage of Coach Prime, Silmon-Craig smiled and said, We dont have enough time for all that.

He then added, Growing up with him, Ive just became a very consistent person, just in everything I do in life as a whole.

Everything I do from at home translates to the field.

I just grew up as more of a man than anything under Coach Prime, more than a football player.

Football comes and goes, but the life lessons and everything that he taught me just to be a better man is the biggest thing..

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