Deion Sanders Condemns Death Threats Against CSU’s Henry Blackburn Over Travis Hunter Hit

Colorado coach Deion Sanders told reporters Tuesday that Colorado State defensive back Henry Blackburn should not be receiving death threats in response to his violent late hit on Buffaloes star Travis Hunter on Saturday night.

Blackburn delivered the bone-chilling hit on Hunter near the midway point of the first quarter of the Rocky Mountain Showdown. Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders threw a pass to Hunter along the left sideline, and after the ball fell incomplete, Blackburn hit Hunter’s midsection, drawing a penalty for unnecessary roughness.

While Hunter is expected to miss Colorado’s next three games due to injury, Sanders said Blackburn does not deserve to be threatened, referring to him as a “good player” who landed a “tremendous hit on the sideline.”

“He does not deserve a death threat over a game,” Sanders said. “You can call [the hit] dirty. You can call it 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, committed to excellence and go to the NFL. … I forgive him. CU, our team forgives him. Travis, he forgives him. Let’s move on.”

Hunter commented on the hit Monday during a live stream, saying, “It’s football at the end of the day,” and hard hits are part of the sport. 

“I just stay humble,” Hunter said. “It’s football. Something bad is going to happen on the field sooner or later. Just got to get up and fight again. … Good thing the doctor stopped me because, if there was no doctors there, I would still be out there playing.”

Despite exiting the game following the hit, Hunter managed to return to action briefly. However, he was later ruled out and taken to a hospital for evaluation. 

The wide receiver/cornerback finished the game with two receptions for 21 yards on offense along with two tackles on defense.