Christian Fauria can’t support what his alma mater’s football program has become under Coach Prime.

The two-time Super Bowl champ and former Colorado star tight end clarified his stance on Deion Sanders after ripping the head coach in the media earlier this week, explaining exactly why he “tapped out” on supporting this current iteration of the program.

Fauria, 54, revealed that his frustration with Colorado boiled over after the program — in his eyes, undeservedly — retired the jersey number of the coach’s quarterback son, Shedeur Sanders.

Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders and starting quarterback Shedeur Sanders in Sept. 2023.

“I don’t want Colorado to fail — I want them to succeed!” Fauria said Friday in an email to USA Today. “But I find the head coach’s priorities off-putting. I officially tapped out in April 2025, when athletic director Rick George allowed the University of Colorado to retire Shedeur Sanders’ No. 2 jersey.”
Fauria played a starring role on Colorado’s 1990 national championship team — a decorated group that faced much stricter criteria for jersey retirement than in recent years, as Colorado amended its previous standards to retire the numbers of Sanders and former Heisman winner Travis Hunter.

The program hasn’t retired the number of former star field general Darian Hagan, who led the Buffaloes to three straight Big Eight titles and the national title with a 28-5-2 record under center.

Meanwhile, the now-Browns quarterback got his number hung in the rafters behind a 13-11 record and without so much as a bowl victory.

Hagan, himself, previously said that he was “flabbergasted” by the decision.

Shedeur Sanders attends his jersey retirement ceremony on April 19, 2025.

Former Colorado Buffaloes Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter had their jersey numbers retired at Folsom Field on April 19, 2025.

“Believe me, I can root for Shedeur as a player while still calling his jersey retirement what it was: a vanity project driven by his father,” Fauria said. “It’s this strange, twisted loyalty from Sanders die-hards — now spilling over into the NFL — that I want no part of. So I hold my nose and move on.”

Fauria remained adamant that his criticism toward Sanders carried no personal animosity whatsoever.

He also emphasized that his current stance has “nothing to do” with his son, Caleb, who was on the Colorado roster when Sanders got hired in December 2022 before quickly transferring to Delaware.

Christian Fauria starred at Colorado from 1990 to 1994.

“What I find comical is that any criticism of Deion Sanders gets labeled as ‘hate,’” Fauria said. “Apparently, only blind loyalty is acceptable — no matter how self-serving or self-promoting his personality comes across. Those traits are ones I personally don’t value and never will. Ask anyone who knows me or anyone I played with at any level.”

While Sanders has improved the miserable 1-11 squad he inherited, Colorado is just 16-21 in two seasons under Coach Prime — and coming off a brutal 3-9 campaign in 2025.

Already deterring those who once bled Black and Gold, he’s going to have to turn things around before the goodwill fully tanks.