“Deion just doesn’t get it”: CFB fans react as Coach Prime brings up Rashaan Salaam amid jersey number retirement controversy

Deion Sanders, also known as Coach Prime, and the Colorado Buffaloes made news this week with the announcement that Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders were going to have their numbers retired at Colorado's spring game on Saturday.

The news came as a shock because it had previously taken Rashaan Salaam 23 years to get the honor after winning the Heisman.

While most fans were on board with Hunter getting his number retired, many questioned whether Shedeur deserved the honor. Deion brought up that Salaam did not get recognized until a year after he died during his press conference.

"So we gotta die to get recognized," Sanders said.

Many fans reacted on X to these comments, with several pointing out that Coach Prime is missing the point. They pointed out that fans do not have a problem getting his number retired. They think Shedeur is only getting his number retired because his father is the coach.

"No one is complaining about Travis Hunter getting his number retired. Geez Deion just doesn’t get it…," one fan wrote. "No. You don’t have to die. But you have to be better than .500 and not a mid player," one fan commented. "Such a dishonest argument ignoring the actual critiques of this and the process here which is only maybe like 2/10 of the critique if that," one fan added.

Fans continued to sound off in the comments on X.

"That doesn't help Shedeur's case either. Salaam did that on a top 3 team and even then, they didn't do it right away. Shedeur's got retired now because YOU said to do it," one fan wrote. "That’s true when they deserve it. Neither Hunter or Sanders did anything to deserve it," one fan commented. "No, but you gotta do more than Shadeur did..," one fan added.

Coach Prime prepares for life after Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders

Coach Prime got his first opportunity to evaluate his team in the post-Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders era. Hunter and Sanders were key pieces in helping the Buffaloes the past two seasons.

However, now both of them are headed to the 2025 NFL draft. They are both projected to be top 10 picks. The Spring Game gave Coach Prime a chance to evaluate his team without those stars. Notably, he got to evaluate his new QBs, freshman Julian Lewis and Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter.

Edited by Krutik Jain