Fans and people posting on social media who have made threats of death against CSU Rams safety Travis Blackburn have been told by Coach Prime to stop their behavior. Coach Prime’s message was clear and straightforward.
“Whatever it was, it does not constitute that he should be receiving death threats,” Buffs football coach Deion Sanders said at his weekly press conference on Tuesday. Sanders was speaking about a situation involving the player. He does not merit receiving a threat of death because of a game. This is all a game, when it all comes down to it.”
After hitting two-way standout Travis Hunter in the chest during the Rocky Mountain Showdown, Blackburn was called for unsportsmanlike conduct at the end of the first quarter. Hunter was attempting to chase down an incomplete pass that was thrown by quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Blackburn was penalized for his actions.
On the play in issue, Blackburn was providing deep coverage, and it gave the impression that Hunter did not see the CSU defender before making contact with him. The incoming Jackson State student collapsed into a heap along the sideline of the opposing team. Shedeur Sanders immediately challenged Blackburn, and officials were eventually needed to separate the two of them.
The defender, who played his high school football in Boulder at Fairview, was not ejected from the game because it was determined that he did not lead with his head nor that he targeted Hunter above the shoulders. As a result, the Buffs were able to win the game in double overtime, 43-35.
Blackburn and his family are believed to have received death threats both during and after the Showdown, according to CSU coach Jay Norvell, who made the announcement on Monday.
Although Coach Prime appealed for forgiveness on behalf of the Rams defense, Shilo Sanders, the head coach’s son, took a different approach on Tuesday.
After his father had finished speaking, the CU safety responded, “I really wanted to whup that dude that did it (Blackburn), for real,” “Just witnessing him try to act dirty like that infuriated me to no end, and that did the trick. That is completely insane. I was under the impression that there would be some kind of sanction… It would be far weirder than that if one of us (on the Buffs) did that, or if I did that. They most certainly would have ejected me from the premises.
Hunter made his way back into the game in the middle of the second quarter, but he was yanked out before the break and sent to a nearby hospital for further evaluation. It has been stated that the native of Georgia sustained a lacerated liver, which will prevent him from playing for at least three weeks. He did not return. In a video that was shared on social media on Monday, Hunter played down the severity of his injuries, and on Tuesday, Coach Prime stated that the Buffs had “forgiven” the Rams defender for any infractions that may have occurred.