Michael Wilbon: Deion Sanders did not 'spearhead' Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter jersey retirements

After Colorado announced it would retire both Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter’s jerseys during Saturday’s spring game, the program received some pushback. Deion Sanders addressed the critics during his Thursday press conference, but ESPN’s Michael Wilbon said Coach Prime wasn’t the one who made the decision.

Wilbon, speaking during Friday’s episode of Pardon The Interruption, said Colorado athletics director Rick George suggested retiring the two numbers. Hunter and Shedeur Sanders will be the first Buffaloes players to have their jerseys retired since the late Rashaan Salaam in 2017, and some program greats spoke out about the decision.

While Wilbon understood their displeasure, he cited his sources and said Deion Sanders didn’t make the call. He said it came from George.

“I understand what they’re saying, Tony,” Wilbon told Tony Kornheiser. “I have it on damn good authority – first of all, that this was going happen. This was anticipated from people who have been around Colorado for a long time because they knew immediately that folks would think that Deion spearheaded this, which I am told and I believe he did not. People can say, ‘Well, he had influence.’ Everybody has influence. Any football coach at any campus has influence. The athletic director did this. He did it. Not ordered by Deion, wasn’t Deion’s hand moving him around like a marionette.

“So if the athletic director does this, it’s still being objected to by the great players in Colorado history who are calling up the school or people they know … and saying, ‘Hey, wait a minute. What about the legacy of all these people as if Colorado football was invented two years ago when Deion got here?’ Again, not at Deion’s hand, but it reflects back to the current team as if they decided this and they didn’t. But yeah, I get it. It’s real anger. It’s real.”

Colorado AD Rick George explains jersey retirement decision

During their two years at Colorado, Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter played key roles in the program’s turnaround. Sanders set the Buffaloes’ single-season passing yards record this past season, throwing for 4,130 yards on a nation-leading 74% completion percentage. Hunter, meanwhile, became Colorado’s first Heisman Trophy winner since Rashaan Salaam as dominated at both wide receiver and cornerback.

When looking at those accomplishments, Rick George pointed out the way Sanders and Hunter led the charge into a new era. That’s why he said their jersey retirements add to their legacies in Boulder.

“The extraordinary passion and loyalty displayed by CU football fans, university alumni and former players is just one reason why Colorado football is different,” George told BuffZone. “As someone who was a part of a past great era of CU football and who now has the privilege of being a part of the current one, I recognize that being a Buff is an honor and a privilege. Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders are both great Buffs and exceptional talents who have been tremendous representatives of our program and of our university and led our team back to national prominence.

“Recognizing the accomplishments of a Heisman Trophy winner and record-setting quarterback who ushered in this new era of CU football now does not detract from accomplishments of the past. Rather, it adds to the rich legacy of CU football that has been passed down over the years by everyone who has worn a CU uniform.”