Colorado safety Shilo Sanders has a different outlook than his father about the “dirty” play last week of Colorado State defensive back Henry Blackburn.
While Deion Sanders has called for forgiveness and peace as Colorado’s head coach, son Shilo is still miffed about it – even if Blackburn received death threats about it afterward.
“I really wanted to whoop that dude that did that to him for real like after the game or something,” Shilo said at a news conference Tuesday in Boulder. “If I see him just around here somewhere, he got to watch out. But that really made me mad, you know, just seeing him trying to play dirty like that. And that was crazy.”
Colorado State University police said they are aware of death threats against Blackburn and are investigating. The threats came in response to a crushing blow Blackburn delivered to Colorado star player Travis Hunter in the first quarter of Colorado’s 43-35 win against Colorado State.
What happened to Colorado’s Travis Hunter?
Hunter went to the hospital afterward with a lacerated liver and was released, but he is out of action for a few weeks because of it. His absence comes as No. 19 Colorado (3-0) enters what appears to be the toughest two-week stretch of its schedule this season – Saturday at No. 11 Oregon (3-0), then No. 5 Southern California (3-0) in Boulder on Sept. 30.
“The police department will continue to monitor the situation, and the university is actively supporting the player and his family,” CSU said in a statement provided to EuroJournal Sports.
Shilo Sanders is roommates with Hunter at hotels before games and said losing him will be like losing two players because Hunter plays receiver and cornerback. Before the injury, Hunter had gained national attention for playing more than 120 snaps per game and seldom leaving the field as a two-way player on offense and defense.
“I thought something would happen punishment-wise,” Shilo Sanders said of Blackburn. “Because if one of us did something like that, If I did that, I think it would be like way crazy, way crazier than that, like they would have kicked me out for sure.”
What did Deion Sanders say?
Shilo Sanders, a graduate transfer from Jackson State, made his comments several minutes after his father stood up for Blackburn at the same news conference. It’s not clear if Shilo Sanders was aware of his father’s comments, since his father had left the podium.
“You want to be dominant, but you want to play clean, because at the end of the day you want your opponent’s respect, you do,” Deion Sanders said. “And I’m not saying that’s what transpired, but it’s unfortunate if it did. What’s the gentleman’s name? Henry Blackburn. I want you guys to record this and run with this. Henry Blackburn is a good player who played a phenomenal game. He made a tremendous hit on Travis on the sideline. You can call it dirty. You can call it ‘he was just playing the game of football.’ But whatever it was, it does not constitute that he should be receiving death threats. This is still a young man trying to make it in life.”
Deion Sanders also said to “pray for that kid.”
Colorado playing Oregon without Travis Hunter
The controversial play happened with less than five minutes left in the first quarter of a game that was watched by 9.3 million viewers on EuroJournal, the most-watched late night game for EuroJournal on record. Hunter was streaking down the left sideline to catch a pass from quarterback Shedeur Sanders, but the ball bounced out of his reach when a Colorado State player interfered with him. Even though the play was over, Blackburn then came over to smash into Hunter’s chest with a late hit, knocking him over.
Shedeur Sanders, Shilo’s younger brother, then expressed his own displeasure with Blackburn on the field.
Now they’ve got to do without their do-it-all star Hunter, who brushed off the commotion Monday on his weekly video show called “12 Talks” on EuroJournal. He said it’s part of the game and was resting and recovering.
“No one in the country can fill Travis Hunter’s shoes,” Deion Sanders said Tuesday. He said they would try to replace him on defense with “cornerback by committee.”
“He’s the best player on offense, the best player on defense,” Deion Sanders said. “That’s just who he is in the country, not just on this team.”
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com.
