BOULDER, Colo. — Deion Sanders didn’t get a chance to fully enjoy the moment as his son, Shedeur, and his just-like-a-son, Travis Hunter, had their jerseys retired Saturday before the spring game.
The Colorado coach had too many other obligations — checking out his new QBs, watching special teams and making sure the product was entertaining for a national television audience tuning in.
He was appreciative of the moment, though, even if the jersey retirement has rankled some former Colorado players and fans.
“I looked in both of their eyes — I know [Shedeur and Travis] were pleased, they were thankful, and they were proud,” Deion Sanders said. “That means a lot to me.
“The time frame, nobody’s going to be happy with. Somebody’s always going have something to say. But the way we are right now, we are a now generation. … those guys deserve what they deserve right now. So I’m proud of them.”
It was one of the last times that Hunter and Shedeur Sanders will team up on the turf at Folsom Field. Standing at midfield, they watched their retired jersey numbers — No. 2 for Sanders, No. 12 for Hunter — unveiled on the east face of the stadium.
This kicked off a busy week for Hunter, the Heisman Trophy winner, and Sanders, the Johnny Unitas Award winner as college football’s top QB. Both are expected to be high draft picks when the NFL draft starts on Thursday.
Once the retired ceremony concluded, the Buffaloes got down to the business of football.
Namely, finding a successor for Shedeur Sanders.
It figures to be a two-QB race between Kaidon Salter, a transfer from Liberty, and Julian “JuJu” Lewis, the five-star recruit who arrived on campus last fall to get an early start.
Lewis was the first to take the field and there were early jitters. He mixed the pass with the run, which will be a familiar sight as Colorado emphasizes the ground game this season now that the younger Sanders is gone. The Buffaloes brought in Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk as the running backs coach to provide a spark.
“He’s still a young man,” Deion Sanders said of Lewis. “We don’t care about the age and the stage, though.”
Salter showed a veteran’s poise when it was his turn. The dual-threat QB threw for 56 TDs at Liberty and ran for 21 scores.
“I fell in love with the offense,” Salter said of why he chose Colorado. “We have a fully loaded staff here that knows what it takes to get to the next level.”
Shedeur Sanders sauntered along the sideline, taking in the action of his heirs apparent, Lewis and Salter. Looking on as well was Hunter.
Sanders and Hunter became the fifth and sixth players in Colorado’s 135-year history to have their jerseys retired.
At halftime, the Buffaloes announced the late coach Bill McCartney would be honored next season with a statue. McCartney, who led the program to its only football national championship in 1990, died in January at 84.
Deion Sanders said he only wishes the tribute came earlier.
“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?” asked Sanders, who plans to honor McCartney next fall by donning a similar hat and jacket as the Hall of Fame coach used to wear. “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.”
Bring on Syracuse?
The attendance was announced at 20,430 fans, which was down from the previous two spring games. Sanders thinks the NCAA nixing a plan to play Syracuse hurt ticket sales. Still, he wants to see more seats filled.
“We do have a tremendous fan base, but we need a little more support when it comes to whatever we do inside the stadium,” Sanders said. “We should be packing it like it’s a game.”
Walk-on honored
Walk-on safety Ben Finneseth was awarded a scholarship by Sanders.
“As soon as I put my head in his shoulder, I said, ‘Thank you for believing in me.’ Because he’s believed in me since Day 1,” Finneseth said. “I can’t thank everyone enough for giving me the opportunity.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco, who’s currently on trial on charges including sexual abuse of a minor, was charged Sunday with illegal possession of a handgun, prosecutors said.
Franco was arrested Nov. 10 in San Juan de la Maguana after an altercation in a parking lot. No one was injured during the fight, and the handgun, a semiautomatic Glock 19, was found in Franco’s vehicle, according to a statement from the Dominican Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The handgun was registered in the name of Franco’s uncle, prosecutors said in the statement. After the arrest, Antonio Garcia Lorenzo, one of Franco’s lawyers, said that because the gun was licensed, “there’s nothing illegal about it.”
Prosecutors requested that Franco stand trial on the gun charge.
When reached by ESPN on Sunday night, the Rays said they had no comment on the matter.
The 24-year-old Franco’s trial in the sexual abuse case — involving a girl who was 14 years old at the time of his alleged crimes — is ongoing. The charges in that case include sexual abuse of a minor, sexual and commercial exploitation against a minor, and human trafficking.
According to prosecutors, Franco kidnapped the girl for sexual purposes and “sent large sums of money to her mother.”
Franco, who is on supervised release, faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
Franco was playing his third major league season when his career was halted in August 2023 because of the allegations. He agreed to an 11-year, $182 million contract in November 2021. He is currently on Major League Baseball’s restricted list.
ESPN’s Juan Arturo Recio contributed to this report.
BROOKLYN, Mich. – Denny Hamlin is pulling off quite a juggling act.
Hamlin outlasted the competition at Michigan International Speedway for his third NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season and 57th of his career, juggling his roles as a driver, expectant father and co-owner of a racing team that’s suing NASCAR.
“The tackle box is full,” Hamlin said Sunday. “There’s all kinds of stuff going on.”
Hamlin, in the No. 11 Toyota, went low to pass William Byron on the 197th of 200 laps and pulled away from the pack to win by more than a second over Chris Buescher.
“Just worked over the guys one by one, giving them different looks,” he said.
The 44-year-old Hamlin was prepared to leave his team to join his fiancée, Jordan Fish, who is due to give birth to their third child, a boy. If she was in labor by Lap 50 or sooner at Michigan, he was prepared to leave the track.
Hamlin said he would skip next week’s race in Mexico City if necessary to witness the birth.
To add something else to Hamlin’s plate, he is also co-owner of 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan, which is involved in a lawsuit against NASCAR.
He drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, which hadn’t won at Michigan in a decade.
“I think it’s the most underrated track that we go to,” said Hamlin, who has won three times on the 2-mile oval.
Hamlin became JGR’s winningest driver, surpassing Kyle Busch‘s 56 victories, and the 10th driver in NASCAR history to win after his 700th start.
“It feels good because I’m going to hate it when I’m not at the level I’m at now,” he said. “I will certainly retire very quicky after that.”
Hamlin’s team set him up with enough fuel to win while many drivers, including Byron, ran out of gas late in the race.
“It really stings,” said Byron, the points leader, who was a season-worst 28th. “We just burned more (fuel) and not able to do much about that.”
Hamlin, meanwhile, wasn’t on empty until his celebratory burnout was cut short.
Pole-sitter Chase Briscoe was out front until Byron passed him on Lap 12. Buescher pulled ahead on Lap 36 and stayed up front to win his first stage this season.
Byron took the lead again after a restart on Lap 78 as part of his strong start and surged to the front again to win the second stage.
Carson Hocevar took the lead on Lap 152 and was informed soon thereafter that he didn’t have enough fuel to finish, but that became moot because a flat tire forced him into the pits with 18 laps to go.
Hocevar faded to a 29th-place finish, a week after he was second to match a career best at Nashville, where he created a buzz with an aggressive move that knocked Ricky Stenhouse Jr. out of the race.
Rough times for Bowman
Bowman hit a wall with the front end of his No. 48 Chevrolet as part of a multi-car crash in his latest setback.
“That hurt a lot,” he said after passing a medical evaluation. “That was probably top of the board on hits I’ve taken.”
Bowman, who drives for Hendrick Motorsports, came to Michigan 12th in points and will leave lower in the standings. He has finished 27th or worse in seven of his last nine starts and didn’t finish for a third time during the tough stretch.
Reddick rallies
Defending race champion Tyler Reddick qualified 12th, but started last in the 36-car field because of unapproved adjustments and rallied to finish 13th.
Up next
NASCAR shifts to Mexico City for its first points-paying international race in modern history on June 15.
In another move announced Sunday, the Milwaukee Brewers claimed outfielder Drew Avans off waivers from the Athletics and assigned him to their Triple-A Nashville affiliate.
The 34-year-old Wynns had batted .400 with a .442 on-base percentage, 3 homers and 11 RBIs in 18 games with the Reds.
Avans, who turns 29 on Friday, had gone 1-for-15 in seven games with the Athletics this season. He had hit .328 with a .414 on-base percentage, 4 homers, 34 RBIs and 16 steals in 48 games with the Athletics’ Triple-A Las Vegas affiliate.
