Former Buffs David Bakhtiari Calls Out CU for “Trying to Be Slick” by Retiring Shedeur Sanders’ Jersey With Travis Hunter’s

The University of Colorado Boulder is retiring the No. 2 and No. 12 jerseys in honor of Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders. However, former Buff David Bakhtiari has voiced his issue with Shedeur’s number being retired. Bakhtiari made a strong point as well, referencing another legendary player who wore No. 2 in Boulder and arguably deserved the honor more.

If you needed a reminder of how influential and talented Hunter and Shedeur were for Colorado, here it is: Just four months after they played their final game for the Buffs, their jerseys are being retired. The ceremony will take place on Saturday before the Colorado Spring Game, which will be broadcast on ESPN2.

However, Bakhtiari played at Colorado for one year in 2010. During that time, he seemingly became well-versed in the history of the football program. That’s why it bothered him to see Shedeur’s No. 2 honored in the rafters. Not because he thinks Shedeur wasn’t great, but because there was a player from the 1990s, Deon Figures, who wore the same number and might have been even more deserving.

“Y’all trying to be slick thinking you can just sneak that one in there,” Bakhtiari Tweeted. 

The former All-Pro lineman then provided context in a separate tweet, highlighting that Deon Figures, a cornerback for the school, also wore No. 2.

From 1988 to 1992, Figures dominated for the Buffs. He won a National Championship in 1990, earned the Jim Thorpe and Jack Tatum awards, was a consensus All-American, and was a first-round NFL Draft pick. Figures went on to play six seasons in the NFL and was eventually inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

So, it’s understandable why Bakhtiari reacted the way he did. After all, how can we overlook what Figures has done in the past? We can’t. But at the same time, how can we overlook what Shedeur did in the present for the school, and how can we not honor him in some way?

The fan reaction was mostly against Bakhtiari’s stance. While he never explicitly said that Shedeur’s number shouldn’t be retired, it was implied. The public was left confused about what Colorado was trying to be “slick with”. 

“What’s slick about it?” one person responded.

“What’s your problem? He brought y’all back to relevancy,” another said. 

However, there were many who couldn’t understand why Shedeur and Hunter’s numbers were being retired in the first place.

“This is that give-everybody-a-trophy philosophy from Little League,” someone wrote. “Yeah Bak, I don’t disagree… Real lame sauce on this one,” another netizen penned.

It may not be what Bakhtiari or some fans want, but Shedeur and Hunter are undeniably deserving of having their jerseys retired. Shedeur set the record for the highest completion percentage in a college career. Hunter, meanwhile, won a Heisman Trophy while excelling on both offense and defense. Additionally, the two completely rejuvenated Colorado’s football program, both economically and in terms of talent.

Is that really not worthy of a jersey retirement? Also, two numbers can be retired at the same time in college. It’s not a big deal. With the number of players that a college sees compared to average professional teams, it would also be ridiculous to think that two players of equal greatness wouldn’t wear the same number at different points in time.