BOULDER — 2 Soon.
You want to talk records? Fine. Darian Hagan put up a 28-5-2 mark as CU’s starting quarterback. Kordell Stewart went 27-5-1 as the Buffs’ QB1.
If Shedeur Sanders’ No. 2 jersey is retired for eternity at Folsom Field, then Hagan’s No. 3 and Stewart’s No. 10 better be next.
“It’s just so disrespectful,” former CU great J.J. Flannigan told me by phone Tuesday, “in so many ways.”
For Hunter, CU’s second Heisman Trophy winner, Folsom immortality was fait accompli. Sanders, son of CU coach Deion Sanders and the best pure passer in Buffs QB history, probably would’ve joined him. Eventually.
Welcome to 2025, where “eventually” means “in a few days.” The Buffs are retiring Shedeur’s No. 2 and Travis Hunter’s No. 12 at Saturday’s spring game.
The premise is fine. The timing is bonkers.
For one thing, the younger Sanders and Hunter officially hung up their CU helmets only four-and-a-half months ago at the Alamo Bowl. While the Buffs capped off a 9-4 season, it was, on the whole, a night to forget.
If that seems like a mighty quick turnaround for a jersey retirement, you’re right — the late, great Rashaan Salaam’s No. 19 was honored 23 years after he won the Heisman Trophy. Byron White and Bobby Anderson had to wait a year to see their numbers retired. Joe Romig had to wait two years.
And while we’re on the subject of waiting, the Buffs traditionally retire jerseys about as often as the Army hands out Astronaut badges. Before this week, CU had only honored four such players, and only one Buff — Salaam — has been recognized for their efforts between 1973-2023.
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Factor in the rush, and no wonder several CU football alums are ticked off right now.
“Even if they had come to Coach (Bill McCartney), even if he had NIL, he wouldn’t have done anything like that,” said Flannigan, one of Coach Mac’s best recruits. “I don’t believe Coach Mac would’ve done that.
“I don’t have a problem with Travis (seeing his number retired). He did something that nobody’s ever done. But even then, let him be gone for a few years. You do it before he leaves?”
2 Soon.
Flannigan wore No. 2 for McCartney’s Buffs, and proudly. The Los Angeles native ran for 1,187 pre-bowl yards and 18 pre-bowl touchdowns for CU’s 1989 national runner-up, a team that many swear was better, pound-for-pound, than the ’90 crew that beat Notre Dame for the natty a year later.
CU’s featured a bunch of stellar “2s” over the years. Richard Johnson. Flannigan. Brian Calhoun. James Kidd. Laviska Shenault. But J.J. thinks the man who succeeded him with the number, ex-Buffs cornerback Deon Figures, is still No. 1 when it comes to CU’s all-time No. 2s.
“Put Deon Figures on that list above me,” Flannigan said. “I’d put anybody on that list above me. (CU’s decision) is disrespectful to the accomplishments of Eric Bieniemy, Alfred Williams, guys who haven’t gotten their (jerseys retired), haven’t gotten their due.”
The icons from the Buffs’ greatest era — 1984-2005 — are long past due. And justifiably frustrated. Flannigan was talking to Bieniemy on Monday night after CU announced the double-jersey ceremony.
“And he was like, ‘Come on, now, reel us back in,'” Flannigan said. “He was not pleased. At all.”
Flannigan was so disappointed that he went on Facebook to post that he’d “never show up on that campus again until the athletes that built that program get some semblance of respect from the current coach. We have officially been bought and sold for popularity.
“I don’t know how many people texted me (Tuesday) and said, ‘Man, I’ve been wanting to say that. I’m glad you said it,'” Flannigan recalled.
2 Soon.
Ex-Buffs QB Joel Klatt, who’s had Coach Prime’s back from Day 1, told Fox Sports’ “First Things First” he’d warned AD Rick George that early jersey retirement wasn’t going to land well with his peers.
Klatt said George told him, “Listen, (these guys) changed the trajectory of our program. They saved our program, in a lot of ways.”
He’s not wrong. College football is on the cusp of another seismic shift. The game is run by television networks now. Nobody loves Deion the way TV loves Deion. Win or lose.
Flannigan has known George for almost 40 years now. George helped recruit the kids under McCartney, who put CU on the front page again in the late ’80s. Which only leaves him more confused.
“This is not about me being mad at Rick,” Flannigan stressed. “I’m disappointed in the decision.
“Everything I say is said out of love, not hate. Not anger. None of that. It’s said out of love. It means I love my university.”
He’s got nothing against Shedeur or Travis, either. Heck, he’s even planning on taking the 24th off from work to go watch the CU duo get taken in the first round of the NFL Draft.
“I want to see those guys go high (in the draft), and I want to see them go to a team they deserve and where they can thrive and build their brands and their athletic abilities,” Flannigan said. “I’m rooting for those guys. This is not about me not rooting for them.”
It’s about fairness. It’s about where you set the bar and why.
Hagan shined on the biggest stages imaginable, steering the Buffs to two national title games and winning one of them. Stewart threw arguably the single greatest pass in Buffs history, won a lot, and helped define what the position could be for a generation.
Nobody in black and gold has ever slung the rock around like Shedeur. But CU’s had QBs who left just as rich a legacy. If there’s room for 2, there’s room for 3 and 10.
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