By Jay Berry
Regarding awards and tributes, Colorado head coach Deion Sanders doesn’t believe in waiting.
After Colorado’s spring game, Sanders said, “So we gotta die to get recognized? Give people their flowers while they can enjoy them, and they can smell them.”
These are the latest comments surrounding the backlash to retiring Shedeur Sanders’ and Travis Hunter’s Colorado jersey numbers. After the spring game, Sanders mentioned two Colorado legends who passed away before being honored.
Why Wait?
Rashaan Salaam was Colorado’s first Heisman Trophy winner after becoming the third Division I player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. Salaam won the Heisman in 1994 after his epic season, where he rushed for 2,055 yards and 24 touchdowns. He also won the Doak Walker Award and was named the Big 8 Offensive Player of the Year.
"So we gotta die to recognized?"
It took 23 years for Colorado's previous Heisman winner Rashaan Salaam to have his number retired 👀 pic.twitter.com/vQgEzFjw6G
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) April 20, 2025
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Salaam died in 2016, and his jersey number was retired in 2017—33 years after winning college football’s most prestigious award and one year after his death.
Sanders is right. Why not celebrate people while they are still with us? In Salaam’s case, they didn’t just wait until he had passed away, they also waited over three decades after his epic college football season.
There is another Colorado legend who is going to be recognized. During the spring game, the University of Colorado announced its plans to honor legendary football coach Bill McCartney with a statue outside Folsom Field. The project was two years in the making, and the sculpture will be revealed before a Buffaloes home game this fall.
Sanders said he plans to honor McCartney by wearing a jacket and hat similar to those he wore during his time with the Buffs, especially during the 1990 national championship season. Sanders, referring to McCartney as “the embodiment of Colorado’s football swagger,” will wear the outfit during the season opener against Georgia Tech.
Retroactive Recognition
McCartney passed away in January at the age of 84. McCartney is considered the best football coaches in the history of the program. He holds the record for most wins and conference wins in school history, along with leading the team to their only national championship in 1990. Yet, it took decades to honor the man. Like Salaam, they waited too long.
“Why are we waiting? Wouldn’t (McCartney) have wanted him to see (it), to be involved in it, to feel it, to feel the love, the respect, the appreciation? Why’d we wait?” Sanders said. “Everything we get is right now. We want something, we order it off Amazon right now. We’re not a waiting generation no more. That’s over. That’s a wrap on that. Everybody in here is impatient. You download stuff right now, putting it out as I speak. Let’s stop. I’m sad because I wanted him to see that. He can’t see that.”
For all the hate that he receives, Sanders is spot on about this topic. Celebrate great people and achievements now while those celebrated can experience the moment. That doesn’t mean Shedeur’s jersey number necessarily deserved retirement, but it adds a specific tone when these matters are considered retroactively.
Especially, McCartney, the university should have honored the legendary coach a long time ago. Waiting until the 2025 season shows laziness and a lack of interest by Colorado. McCartney didn’t just win—he installed a winning culture that the school is still trying to find again.
