"I had two private workouts cancelled": Shedeur Sanders breaks silence on moments before controversial CU jersey retirement
Not many were fans of the Colorado Buffaloes' decision to retire Shedeur Sanders' No. 2 jersey within months of the completion of the college football season, as 1994 Heisman winner, Rashaan Salaam, had to wait 23 years before his jersey went up the rafters.
On Tuesday, in the latest episode of The Rush with Maxx Crosby, Sanders was asked if he knew his jersey was going to get retired ahead of the spring game. He admitted that he had no idea it was coming.
“No, I really didn’t know,” he said (28:31 onwards). “Everything was moving so fast.”
Sanders added that the sequence of events leading up to the ceremony, from NFL Combine to Pro Day, to multiple private workouts (one with the New York Giants).
"So first thing was the Combine. Then you got these visits. Then after the visits, you gotta get ready for Pro Day," Sanders said.
He shared that two of his private workouts were cancelled after teams saw what they needed to see at Pro Day.
"So after I accomplished the Pro Day, then okay — I had two. … what are they called? Oh, two private workouts cancelled because they saw it live in person, and it validated what they’d seen on film," Sanders said. "So they didn’t need to do it anyway. Even though people said it was something else, but it didn’t have anything to do with that.
"Then we had the Giants’ private workout. So you’re still mentally stuck knowing, 'Okay, now I gotta accomplish this one more time.' And that was successful. Then it was finally like — oh, now we got the jersey retirement."
Shedeur Sanders still in disbelief as he shares feeling of seeing his jersey retired
On the outside, there's a lot of noise going on whether the Buffaloes should have waited longer instead of breaking the precedent by retiring Shedeur Sanders' jersey still early. While no one is questioning Shedeur's skill, it's more to do with the timing of his jersey retirement.
Instead of following the ruckus, Shedeur shared his feelings on what it was like to see his jersey up in the rafters.
"It’s just … yeah, like right now, it's just like—it's amazing," Sanders told Crosby. "And I don't know. I just gotta go up there and be like, “Dang, this really is up there,” one more time, you know?"
Shedeur Sanders has adapted well to criticism and would rather enjoy the present as he keeps an eye for the upcoming 2025 NFL draft.