Colorado State coach Jay Norvell stated Monday that senior security Henry Blackburn has been receiving loss of life threats since his late hit that hospitalized Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter.
Blackburn drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty Saturday evening for the blow he delivered to Hunter’s midsection on a deep move within the first quarter of the Rocky Mountain Showdown. It was one in every of 17 penalties the Rams dedicated of their 43-35 loss in double extra time to Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes in entrance of a capability crowd.
Norvell stated Blackburn, who’s from Boulder, and his household had their deal with posted on social media. He added that police have been concerned as a result of critical nature of the threats.
“It’s sad that that’s the state of the world we live in. It’s a football game. Let’s not make it more than that,” Norvell stated at his information convention. “We don’t want anyone to get hurt. We don’t coach that kind of football. I’ve been talking to Henry about that — I talked to him last night and I talked to him today.
“This kid should be worried about going to school and getting ready to play football. He shouldn’t be worried about that kind of nonsense.
Sanders said after the game the 19th-ranked Buffaloes could be without Hunter for several weeks. That means Hunter will miss the game against No. 10 Oregon in Eugene on Saturday and the one at home against No. 5 Southern Cal on Sept. 30.
“We will do what we must to take care of him,” Sanders stated. “We’ve got to make sure he is OK. His health is more important.”
Multiple shops reported that Hunter has a lacerated liver.
It’s a blow to the Buffaloes as Hunter not often leaves the sector. He’s put himself into the Heisman Trophy dialogue by being a lockdown cornerback and a reliable receiver. Hunter has an interception and 9 tackles on protection this season. He’s additionally caught 16 passes for 213 yards from quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Hunter tried to proceed to play after the hit however was dominated out within the second half and was taken to a hospital.
Norvell reviewed the play and concluded that “it’s a play that happens sometimes.”
“When you throw a deep ball and you’ve got a guy playing middle safety, he’s got to react on the boundary and he’s going full speed, it was a bang-bang type of a play,” Norvell stated. “It’s certainly not something that we teach or coach. It happens in football sometimes. Seems to have been a lot of attention about that play, but it’s a play that happens.”
Norvell added: “I hope Travis gets healthy and gets back out there. We certainly don’t want to see anybody get hurt.”
Shedeur Sanders took exception to the blow by Blackburn alongside the Colorado sideline and confronted Blackburn.
“When Travis went down, it made me feel some type of way honestly. You took one of my brothers on offense, so it really hurt me,” stated Shedeur Sanders, who led the Buffaloes on a game-tying 98-yard landing drive within the last minute of regulation and threw for touchdowns in each overtimes. “Knowing the work he put in and everything just leading up to the game and knowing you could always count on him in those moments.”
The late hit caught the eye of a number of athletes on social media, together with Los Angeles Lakers nice LeBron James who posted: “Like I don’t understand the difference between targeting and what I just witnessed. I’ve seen others get thrown out for far less. That was blatant and uncalled for IMO!”
Hall of Famer Champ Bailey, who performed each methods at Georgia, stated it’s dangerous to play each offense and protection, particularly taking part in nearly all the snaps.
”You bought a goal on you,” Bailey stated Sunday on the Washington Commanders-Denver Broncos sport. “When people see you on the field all the time, they’re coming after you.”
