Deion Sanders speaks up for CSU player who injured CU’s star
Sep 19, 2023, 12:01 PM | Updated: Sep 25, 2023, 3:41 pm
Deion Sanders has moved on from the Rocky Mountain Showdown, as soon as the game ended he was complimentary of Jay Norvell and the Colorado State Rams despite he and the rest of the Colorado Buffaloes beefing with their in-state rivals all week.
Now a few days removed Coach Prime is sticking up for Rams safety Henry Blackburn, whose late hit injured Buffs star Travis Hunter during CU’s double overtime win. The two-way star will miss weeks with a lacerated liver. Meanwhile a report from the Colorado State Police Department said Blackburn and family have received death threats in wake of the dirty hit. Sanders stood behind Blackburn, in saying that is wrong.
“Henry Blackburn is a good player who played a phenomenal game, Coach Prime said. This is a still young man trying to make it in life He does not deserve a death threat over a game.”
“I forgive him. Our team forgives him. Travis Hunter has forgiven him. Let’s move on. That kid does not deserve that,” Sanders said on Tuesday.
While Hunter did forgive him in a livestream on Monday, Deion’s safety-playing son has not.
“I really wanted to whoop that dude that did that to him, like after the game or something,” Shilo Sanders said. “If I see him around here somewhere he gotta watch out. That really made me mad, seeing him play dirty.”
Colorado State, nor any college football governing body has further punished Blackburn for the hit, other than the 15 yards the Rams were penalized.
“I thought something was going to happen punishment-wise. If one of us did that, or I did that, it’d be way way crazier,” Shilo said.
The Buffaloes will be without Hunter for a ranked on-ranked matchup against Oregon this weekend and may be in the same situation the following weekend when they host USC. Colorado then is on the road for the lousy Sun Devils and hosts the bad Cardinal before going on bye. There’s a scenario where Hunter doesn’t play again until Oct. 28 in Los Angeles against the Bruins.
Hunter has caught 16 passes for 213 yards and recorded nine tackles and two pass breakups this year while playing every snap on both sides of the ball until the penalized hit by Blackburn sent him off.
But as Coach Prime preps for those coming games, he made his message clear to Buffs fans on Tuesday, all of the acts in Saturday’s game are now in the rearview mirror.
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