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College football fans tend to be a very passionate bunch, and while most people are able to keep their emotions (relatively) in check, there are still plenty of diehards who can’t stop themselves from crossing the line—including a handful who are now facing criminal charges for threatening the Colorado State player who injured Travis Hunter in September.
Deion Sanders is obviously responsible for generating the bulk of the attention that surrounded the Colorado Buffaloes heading into the 2023 season. With that said, there was no one on the roster who garnered more hype than Travis Hunter, the two-way star who took reps at wide receiver and cornerback.
Hunter got off to a very promising start in September, but his season was temporarily derailed when his squad faced off against the Colorado State Rams in their third game of the season.
There was naturally some bad blood between the in-state rivals heading into the Rocky Mountain Showdown, but CSU DB Henry Blackburn took things a bit too far with the late hit that sent Hunter to the hospital and forced him to miss three weeks before making his grand return against Stanford.
Henry Blackburn was assessed a personal foul after this late hit on Travis Hunter. pic.twitter.com/0avKi1erLU
— ESPN (@espn) September 17, 2023
It was undoubtedly a questionable hit, and while Blackburn received a well-deserved flag, he also received death threats from some apoplectic fans who take college football way, way too seriously.
Hunter eventually came forward to make it clear he held no ill will against Blackburn while Coach Prime ripped into the people who went out of their way to target him online over the hit.
It took a few months, but The Denver Post reports five people (one adult and four juveniles) have been hit with misdemeanor charges over threats directed at Blackburn after police in Fort Collins spent more than 100 hours taking a closer look at the “approximately 7,000 threats” he received.
Some people really need to learn how to chill out.