Home/NFL
feature-image

via Imago

feature-image

via Imago

Back in April 2025, Colorado made a big move by announcing they’d retire Shedeur Sanders’ and Travis Hunter’s jersey numbers before the spring game. Normally, retiring a jersey is for legends who’ve put in years of work or led their team to major wins. But Shedeur and Hunter only spent two seasons with the Buffaloes. During that time, the team went 13-12, didn’t win a conference title, and even came up short in the Alamo Bowl. That didn’t stop Colorado from honoring them. But it got people talking. Critics called it a case of ‘skipping the line,‘ especially since Shedeur’s dad, Deion Sanders, happens to be the head coach.

Anyway, by now, the debate over Sanders’ jersey retirement has settled into that quiet zone where sports controversies go to fade, remembered, but not discussed. People had their say at the time, calling it favoritism, questioning the legacy. But the sports world had moved on to new dramas. That is, until the ESPYs decided to drag it back into the spotlight in the most brutal way possible. 

Enter Shane Gillis. The comedian stepped up to the mic and, with perfect timing, resurrected the debate nobody expected to hear about again. “Shedeur Sanders had his jersey number retired at Colorado this year,” he said. “People are saying it’s because of nepotism, because of his father, and it’s not.” Cue the nervous chuckles. “It’s because he went 13-12 over his career, and he almost won the Alamo Bowl.” The room lost it. “Definitely not nepotism, right? Alright.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

 

Of course, Gillis moved on to other targets (like his now-infamous Caitlin Clark bit), but the jab at Shedeur stuck. Whether you think the jersey retirement was deserved or just a case of Coach Prime flexing his influence, one thing’s clear – Shedeur’s legacy at Colorado will always come with a side of jokes. And after Gillis’ roast, those jokes aren’t going anywhere.

But while Gillis got laughs, not everyone found the jersey retirement so funny back in April. Especially some big names in college football who weren’t joking at all…

What’s your perspective on:

Did Shedeur Sanders earn his jersey retirement, or is this just Coach Prime's influence at play?

Have an interesting take?

The Shedeur Sanders controversy, no one’s forgetting

When Colorado announced the jersey retirements last April, the football world reacted with something sharper than jokes – genuine outrage from those who felt traditions were being trampled. Former Colorado QB Darian Hagan, a program legend himself, spoke for many when he told reporters: “We were always told there was a waiting period. There was a policy in place… That was shocking news to me. It was hard to stomach.” His words carried extra weight coming from someone who’d played during Colorado’s glory years.

Colorado’s history made this decision even harder to swallow. Think about it – over 135 years of football, the Buffs only retired four jerseys. They honored No. 24 for Byron “Whizzer” White, No. 67 for Joe Romig, No. 11 for Bobby Anderson, and waited until after Rashaan Salaam‘s tragic death to retire his No. 19 – and that was for a Heisman winner! Then, suddenly, Shedeur and Hunter get theirs after just two seasons? You can see why old-school Buffs fans felt like someone moved the goalposts.

Former NFL LB Chad Brown crystallized the frustration on social media: “Legacy matters. The past matters. Never want to take away from anything #2 or #12 have done. Amazing players. But to act as if CU FB was invented three years ago ignores the greatness in the past.” His post went viral among Colorado alumni who remembered when such honors required more than two seasons of .500 football. Former players weren’t holding back either. Michael Jones, who suited up for the Buffs in the 1980s, gave USA Today Sports this blistering assessment: “For them to not have a process for the retiring of a number is asinine for an institution like Colorado. It’s just completely asinine.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

article-image

via Imago

When reporters finally cornered Deion Sanders about the controversy, his response was pure Prime Time – defiant and dripping with confidence: “I don’t want to talk about this too long. I’m just gonna talk briefly and let it go. We’re talking about Shedeur. We ain’t talking about nobody else. If his last name wasn’t Sanders, we wouldn’t have this discussion. Only reason we’re having this discussion is that his last name is Sanders.”

The difference between this backlash and Gillis’ ESPYs roast was just night and day. These weren’t punchlines – they were passionate arguments about legacy, fairness, and what it truly means to earn immortality in college football. And unlike award show jokes that fade, these critiques cut deep enough to linger whenever Browns‘ QB Shedeur’s retired number catches the light at Folsom Field.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

 

ADVERTISEMENT

0
  Debate

Did Shedeur Sanders earn his jersey retirement, or is this just Coach Prime's influence at play?

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT