During his time as a tight end at Colorado, Christian Fauria won a national championship and was named first-team All-Conference before becoming a second-round draft pick and playing 13 NFL seasons. But while Fauria has fond memories of getting his start at Colorado, he no longer supports the program.
Fauria told USA Today he still wants Colorado to win but thought head coach Deion Sanders retiring the number of his son, Shedeur Sanders, showed that the program is now dedicated to serving Sanders’ ego.
“I don’t want Colorado to fail — I want them to succeed!” Fauria said in an email. “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 said he has nothing against Shedeur but doesn’t think he earned his jersey retirement.
“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’s son played at Colorado but transferred to Delaware shortly after Deion Sanders got the job. Fauria rejects any question about whether he has personal animosity toward Sanders for that or anything else.
“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.”
Although Sanders has improved Colorado from the disastrous 1-11 team he inherited, his overall record at Colorado is just 16-21. He needs to win more games, or else he’s going to find that more people tap out on supporting his program.