Buffs To Retire Travis Hunter’s No. 12, Shedeur Sanders’ No. 2 Jerseys Saturday

Buy Tickets: https://cubuffs.evenue.net/event/F24/BGD2

BOULDER—The Colorado Buffaloes will retire uniform numbers 2 and 12 to honor Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter at the annual Spring Game as part of Black & Gold Day Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

Hunter became one of, if not the, most honored player in college football history last year being named the consensus national player of the year by winning the Heisman Trophy, Walter Camp Award and both the AP and Sporting News Player of the Year honors.  He was also repeated as the Paul Hornung Award (most versatile player) while winning the Bednarik Award and Lott IMPACT Trophy as national defensive player of the year and the Biletnikoff Award as the best receiver regardless of position.

One of only three college football players to win eight major awards, he was also a unanimous first-team All-American, earning seven first-team (and eight overall) honors from the five publications the NCAA uses to determine unanimous and consensus honors.  He is the first player in the history of the Walter Camp All-America team, the nation’s oldest, to earn two first-team honors, and is the first known player to earn two first-team and three overall honors on the AP team.  The other publications three only allow mention at one position.

Also a high scholar athlete, he was named first-team Academic All-American by College Sports Communicators was named the Academic All-American of the Year, just the second in school history, for all of Division I Football.

He finished his junior season with 96 receptions for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns, setting new CU records for receiving touchdowns while finishing second in receptions and third in receiving yards.  He set a CU record with eight 100-yard games and led CU in scoring with 96 points, 16 touchdowns (one rushing).  On defense, he had 36 tackles, four interceptions and 11 pass breakups, leading the FBS with 1,483 snaps which included 86.8% of offensive and 82.9% of defensive snaps for CU.  PFF graded him at 89.7 for receivers, the best in the Power 4 with 500-plus snaps, and he was one of only two defensive players to grade out over 90 percent in coverage at the P4 level.

Hunter finished his CU career with 153 receptions for 1,989 yards and 20 touchdowns, adding a rushing touchdown for 21 total scores on offense, and with 67 tackles, seven interceptions, 16 pass breakups and a force fumble on defense.  He played an astonishing 2,625 snaps in two seasons despite missing what amounted to almost five games due to injury, leading the FBS in snaps in both 2023 and ’24.

Sanders won the Johnny Unitas award as the top quarterback in college football in 2024, when we was named first-team All-American by multiple publications and second-team by the AP.  He was the unanimous choice for the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and named first-team All-Big 12 by all the publications that pick the team.

He completed 353-of-477 passes (74.0%) for 4,134 yards with 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions with an NFL QB rating of 117.0 and college passer rating of 165.9.  In two seasons at CU, he completed 651-of-907 (71.8%) passes for 7,364 yards with 64 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.  One of the most accomplished quarterbacks in college football history, he completed 1,267-of-1,808 (70.1%) for 14,353 yards with 134 touchdowns and 27 interceptions.  He threw a touchdown in an NCAA Division I record 49 straight games and is only one of two D1 quarterbacks to throw for 14,000 yards and complete 70 percent of his career passes.

Despite only playing two seasons in Boulder, he owns over 100 school records including career passing touchdowns, passer rating and completion percentage, the top two passing seasons for completion percentage and QB rating and two of the top three for passing yards, touchdowns, interception percentage, 300-yard games and games with 3-plus touchdown passes.

Four numbers have previously been retired in CU’s 135-year football history: No. 24 worn by quarterback/halfback Byron White in 1936-37 (he also wore No. 8 in 1935); No. 67 worn by guard/linebacker Joe Romig (1959-61); No. 11 worn by quarterback/tailback Bobby Anderson (1967-69); and No. 19 worn by Rashaan Salaam from 1993-94 (he also wore No. 3 as a freshman in 1992).

White’s jersey was retired on November 3, 1938, near the end of the following season, by being placed in a special university trophy case.  Romig’s 67 jersey was retired at halftime of the spring game on May 11, 1963 and Anderson’s 11 jersey was retired at halftime of the spring game on May 9, 1970.

Salaam’s jersey retirement was announced prior to the 2017 season and went into effect after that season, being honored at halftime of the CU-California game on October 28, 2017.

The ceremony will take place at 2:30 p.m. at the start of CU’s spring game, which will be aired nationally on ESPN2.

Curtis C. Snyder

Associate Athletic Director/Athletic Communications (Football, Skiing, Tennis)

Skiing Sport Supervisor