Deion Sanders Reacts to Backlash to Shedeur, Travis Hunter Colorado Jersey Retirement

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders maintained that there was no time like the present to honor former Buffaloes stars Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders.

The school officially retired Hunter and Sanders' jerseys during Saturday's spring game.

Deion Sanders once again addressed the criticism with celebrating Hunter and Shedeur so soon after they left Boulder.

"The time frame, nobody's going to be happy with. Somebody's always going have something to say," he said. "But the way we are right now, we are a now generation. ... those guys deserve what they deserve right now. So I'm proud of them."

In the case of Hunter, a jersey retirement was inevitable the moment he lifted the Heisman Trophy. He only needed two years to cement himself as one of the greatest players in program history.

Colorado waited more than two decades to retire Rashaan Salaam's No. 19 jersey, and the 1994 Heisman winner was only honored posthumously. There was no need to repeat a similar error with Hunter.

The larger contention from fans was with the decision to immortalize Shedeur's No. 2 jersey as well.

As a senior, Sanders was the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award winner, but few would contend he had a legendary college career.

Colorado went 13-12 over the last two seasons, losing its only bowl game of the Coach Prime era so far. Sanders' individual production (7,364 yards, 64 touchdowns and 13 interceptions) was also very good but far from historic.

Deion pushed back against the criticism by saying "we wouldn't have this discussion" if Shedeur didn't have the Sanders name. The detractors are making the exact same point, albeit in service of a much different argument.

Ultimately, retiring Shedeur's number is a big bet by Colorado that Deion sticks around for a while and doesn't leave in a bitter divorce. Should he depart on bad terms, having a permanent reminder at Folsom Field of the Coach Prime may not be a great thing.