Colorado University Athletics
Coach Prime Condemns Threats Against CSU Player
September 19, 2023 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado's Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders had a message for Buffaloes fans at his weekly press conference Tuesday.
Coach Prime took a moment to address the situation surrounding Buffs star Travis Hunter, who suffered an injury in last weekend's overtime victory over Colorado State. Hunter was injured on a late hit by CSU's Henry Blackburn and ended up being hospitalized.
Since then, according to CSU athletic director Joe Parker, Blackburn and his family have received multiple death threats.
Tuesday, Sanders strongly condemned those threats.
"Henry Blackburn is a good player who played a phenomenal game," Sanders told the media. "He made a tremendous hit on Travis on the sideline. You could call it dirty. You could call it 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, trying to live his dream … He does not deserve a death threat over a game."
Sanders then added, "At the end of the day this is a game. Someone must win. Someone must lose. Everybody continues their life the next day. I'm sad if there's any of our fans that's on the other side of those threats. I would hope and pray not, but that kid was just playing to the best of his ability and he made a mistake. So I forgive him. CU, my team, forgive him. Travis has forgiven him. Let's move on. But that kid does not deserve that."
Hunter was released from the hospital Monday and posted a video on social media in which he said the incident was simply part of football.
"At the end of the day, stuff like that's going to happen," Hunter said. "He did what he was supposed to do. That's football. Something bad is going to happen sooner or later and you just have to get up and fight again. That's what I'm going to do."
