BOULDER, Colorado – The Colorado football coach, Deion Sanders, responded Thursday to a recent controversy involving the University’s decision to withdraw the number of jerseys from his quarter -arre Sheder and the bidirectional star Travis Hunter.
Sanders called this a “painful subject” and said that the return of things was because his son’s jersey number was retired.
“Let’s grab the elephant in the room,” said Sanders. “I don’t want to talk about it for too long. I’m just going to talk briefly and let him go. We are talking about Shemer. We are not talking about anyone else. If his family name was not Sanders, we would not have this discussion. Only the reason we have this discussion is his family name is Sanders. That’s.”
After the announcement of the Jersey number retirement on Monday, some former Colorado players wondered if it was too early and spoke of all the other major CU players in the past whose jersey numbers were not removed by CU, including the Darian Hagan and Kordell Stewart quarters.
Cu has previously retired that four jersey jersey in his 135 -year -old football story, including the Ballon Rashaan Salaam N ° 19, which was withdrawn in 2017, 23 years after winning the Heisman trophy and less than a year after his death in 2016.
What have the former Colorado players said about it?
It has been less than four months than Sheder Sanders (n ° 2) and the winner of the Heisman trophy, Travis Hunter (n ° 12), played their last match in the Bowl of Alamo, marking the Cu as soon as possible never withdrawn a jersey number from a player.
“Legacy Matters”, wrote the former secondary Cu Chad Brown on the social media site X this week. “The past counts. Never want to remove anything # 2 or # 12.
Brown and the former CU Darrin Chiaverini receiver called for a waiting period on decisions involving pension decisions of the Jersey number. They did not argue that Hunter and Sheder Sanders did not deserve this honor, just that he came quickly and seemed to neglect the past.
“The need for inheritance to be assessed and the appropriate measures must be taken so that history is properly preserved,” wrote Chiaverini on X. “Congratulations to Sheder and Travis. There is no doubt that they are engraved in the Colorado football tradition, but make sure that we honor those who came.”
Hagan, who helped led the Buffaloes to the 1990 national championship, republished Chiaverini’s remarks on X. Brown added more comments this week.
“If the players of the national team of the champion did not receive such an honor, by default, this action rejects, decreases and for a new generation of fans of Cu erases their size,” wrote Brown. “I would never minimize the impact of # 2 or # 12, they are incredible players. But this timing is poor. “
Deion Sanders said he was focused on the present, not past
Brown responded to Deion Sanders comments Thursday by phone in USA Today Sports. He denied that his criticism had something to do with SheDer and said that it was just a question of feeling that the timing is “premature” and that the decision is to jump the greatness of CU football.
“To say that you are not responsible for the past, you are not, because you were not there, but while you are here, you are responsible for the connection of this generation to the greatness of the buffaloes in the past,” said Brown who played Cu in the late 1980s and in the early 1990s. “Having been a member of the biggest era of football cu … does not shine very well. “
Deion Sanders made his comments when his team is preparing to finish the spring training season with his annual Intrasquad match on Saturday at 4.30 p.m. on ESPN2. Jersey’s retirement ceremony for Sheder Sanders and Hunter is scheduled before the match on Saturday at Folsom Field.
Asked about the honor of the past, Sanders said: “I’m not in this. I’m leading to football right now.”
He noted that the program has improved since its arrival in December 2022, when the team came out of a 1-11 season. He also said that he had made personal videos to honor current players leaving the program and that he supports other sports at university, including football and tennis.
“They call me Prime McENROE by the way,” said Sanders.
Before Salaam, Cu withdrew the quarter / back jersey Bobby Anderson (n ° 11) in 1970, about five months after his last match in Cu. The other Cu retirement jerseys are No. 24 by Byron White (1938) and No. 67 of the Guard / Secondary Joe Romig (1963).
The controversy is partly fueled by the fact that after 1970, Cu did not withdraw any number of football jerseys before Salaam’s death in 2016, even if he won the national championship in 1990 and finished n ° 3 at the national level in 1994 to 11-1. It is not the fault of Deion Sanders. He noted that he was a friend with Kordell Stewart and recently spoke to the former recipient of Cu Michael Westbrook, both members of the 1994 team.
“When I start to come back in something that did not know, in which I was not involved, I will rush feathers, because I will forget someone I don’t know.” Said Daion Sanders. “And it’s going to be a problem, and I don’t want to be put in this position. I want to be the right steward on what God has placed me and feel like I am.”
Declaration of the problems of the Sports Director of Colorado Rick George
The decision was not announced without the approval of others in Athletics Cu. In response to the reaction, the sports director Rick George, who hired Deion Sanders, published a declaration noting the “extraordinary and loyalty passion” displayed by the fans and the elders of Colorado.
“Recognizing the achievements of a winner of the Heisman trophy and a record quarter who inaugurated this new era of football Cu does not harm the achievements of the past, said George.”
Follow the Brento Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer journalist. Email: bschrotenb@usatuday.com
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
