Joel Klatt calls departures of Travis Hunter, Shedeur Sanders the 'end of an era' for Colorado

Colorado just ended the most-hyped two-year stretch in school history under Coach Prime, Shedeur Sanders, and Travis Hunter.

With that, Joel Klatt, a Buff himself, said goodbye to Sanders and Hunter on his show on Monday. He expressed just how much that the pair of them impacted the team, the brand, and the entire school in Boulder.

“From a Colorado perspective, I will just tell you, though, it is a bit of an end of an era with these two incredible players,” said Klatt. “Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter meant so much to this university in a larger sense but certainly this program.”

Sanders, Colorado’s QB1 the past two seasons, completed 71.8% of his throws for 7,364 yards, 64 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. That included being a leading passer this year in college football as he was top-five in completions, attempts, completion rate, passing yards, passing touchdowns, which earned him honors as Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and a Top-10 finish for The Heisman Trophy.

Hunter, the top two-way athlete in the sport in some time, then had his effect all over the field. He posted 153 catches for 1,979 yards and 20 touchdowns as a receiver on offense while having 66 tackles, three tackles for loss, 16 deflections, seven interceptions, and a forced fumble at corner on defense. That includes this fall where Hunter, an All-American again, won the Biletnikoff Award, the Chuck Bednarik Award, the Walter Camp Player of the Year, and also The Heisman Trophy.

Sanders and Hunter were the keys to Colorado’s turnaround over the last three seasons from one win in 2022 and four wins in 2023 to nine in 2024. That, along with the play that lived up to all of the attention on them, is why they will always be remembered at CU.

“What they’ve done on the field has been utterly remarkable, in particular when you’re taking a look at this from where this program was when they stepped in the door,” said Klatt. “You see, as a player, every one of us wants to leave the place that we came to better than when we found it. And those two guys did that. Not many do, you know. I mean, it’s rare, to be quite honest with you. Everyone wants to – and yet they did.”

“They did in such a significant way that, as an alum? I will just tell you, like, I was really thankful for the last two years of getting to witness these two guys, Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter – and all those older players and seniors on that team and what Deion has done with that program,” Klatt said. “It’s been remarkable. You’ve heard me talk about it a lot.”

Sanders and Hunter both now project to be two of the very top selections in the 2025 NFL Draft. However, for what all they could go on to do in the pros, what they did with the Buffaloes, along with their teammates, is what Klatt and many others won’t soon forget.

“There’s certainly a legacy for Colorado with some of those older guys leaving the program. So thank you, from an alum, to Travis, to Shedeur, to all the older players, to Deion for everything you’ve done over the last couple of years and, hopefully, there’s more of that in the future.”