BOULDER — Coach Prime had a firm and direct message to fans and social-media posters who’ve thrown death threats at CSU Rams safety Travis Blackburn: Stop.
“Whatever it was (in the game), it does not constitute that he should be receiving death threats,” Buffs football coach Deion Sanders said at his weekly news conference Tuesday. “He does not deserve a death threat over a game. At the end of the day, this is a game.”
Deion Sanders calls for forgiveness for Colorado State's Henry Blackburn, who received death threats after his hit on Travis Hunter. pic.twitter.com/Isr5oeW5bf
— ESPN (@espn) September 19, 2023
Blackburn was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct late in the first quarter of the Rocky Mountain Showdown after striking two-way star Travis Hunter in the chest while the latter was chasing down an incomplete pass from quarterback Shedeur Sanders. CSU coach Jay Norvell said Monday that Blackburn and his family had received death threats during and after the Showdown and that the police have intervened.
“Henry Blackburn is a good player who played a phenomenal game,” Sanders said. “He made a tremendous hit on Travis on the sideline. You could call it dirty … (but) he was just playing the game of football …
“This is still a young man trying to make it in life. A guy that’s trying to live his dream and hopefully graduate with honors or a degree, (who’s) committed to excellence, and go to the NFL. He does not deserve a death threat over a game. 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 saddened if there’s any of our (CU) fans that are on the other side of those threats. I would hope and pray not, but that kid was just playing the best of his ability and he made a mistake. So I forgive him. CU, our team, forgives him. Travis, he’s forgiven him. Let’s move on. But that kid does not deserve that.”
Blackburn, who played his prep football at Boulder’s Fairview High School, was not considered to have led with his head nor to have targeted Hunter above the shoulders and remained in the game, which the Buffs won in double overtime, 43-35.
While Coach Prime asked for absolution toward the Rams defender, Shilo Sanders, his son, offered a slightly different tone Tuesday.
“I really wanted to whup that dude that did it (Blackburn), for real,” the CU safety said after his father spoke with reporters. “That really made me mad, just seeing him try to play dirty like that. That was crazy. I thought something would happen, punishment-wise. … If one of us (on the Buffs) did that, if I did that, it would be way crazier than that. They would’ve kicked me out, for sure.”
Hunter returned to the tilt in the second quarter but was removed at halftime and taken to a local hospital for examination. The Georgia native did not return and reportedly suffered a lacerated liver that will sideline him for at least three weeks.
In a video posted Monday, Hunter said he was improving and had no ill will toward Blackburn.
“Let’s pray for that kid (Blackburn), man, that’s absurd,” the elder Sanders said as he left his news conference.
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