Deion Sanders gave sports pundits plenty of fodder over this last week since it was announced that Colorado would be immediately retiring the jersey numbers of Heisman winner Travis Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
The Buffs followed through with that ceremony Saturday during the spring game, and afterward the head coach let his thoughts be known about the outside criticism over his decision.
"I looked in both their eyes. I know they were pleased, they were thankful and they were proud. And that means a lot to me. I'm one of those type of guys who I'm going to tell you how I feel right off the rip, you know? I'm not gonna really wait, so I give you your flowers now. I'm not gonna wait 20 years down the street then bring you back when you [are] limping, you can barely walk, or because some tragedy happens to recognize your greatness and what you contributed to this program," Sanders said. "So I'm thankful that [athletic director] Rick [George] shot a shot and moved on what we all know was inevitable in due time. You know the time frame nobody's going to be happy with. Somebody's always going to have something to say. But the way we are right now, we are [a] 'now' generation. You guys are 'now' people, and this is a 'now' time, and those guys deserve what they deserve right now. So I'm proud of them."
Sanders was further asked about plans to honor former Buffs head coach Bill McCartney, as Colorado officially announced plans to put up a statue of McCartney, who led the program to three Big 8 Conference titles and the 1990 AP national championship.
McCartney died in January at the age of 84.
"I'm gonna honor him as well. His swag, the hat he wore, the jacket he wore, I started to wear today, but I wanted to kind of save it for the first game. So his swag, I'm gonna try to recreate that and rock that for our first game," Sanders said. "I'm trying not to get in trouble with what I'm about to say, why [do] we wait, man? Why [do] we wait? Wouldn't we have wanted him to see? To be involved in it, to feel it, to feel the love, the respect, the appreciation? Why [do] we wait? See, that's kind of junk that you guys got to run with. Say something about that. He can't enjoy that right now. ...
"I'm sad because I want him to see that. He can't see that. Same thing for Rashaan Salaam, right? How long did we wait? I say 'we,' because I'm a part of CU now. How long did we wait?"
Salaam, who won the 1994 Heisman Trophy for the Buffs, was one of only four players with their number retired by the program before Hunter and Shedeur Sanders joined that list. But the former running back died tragically in 2016 at age 42 before the Buffs retired his number in 2017.
"So we gotta die to get recognized?" Deion Sanders continued. "Ain't nobody said nothing in the church right now. Everybody got something to say otherwise. Give people [their] flowers while they can enjoy them and they can smell them. That's how I get down. ... I don't wait. I'm not built like that."
