Forgive and forget: Colorado's Travis Hunter goes bowling with Henry Blackburn, per report
Travis Hunter is letting bygones be bygones.
The two-way star for the Colorado Buffaloes invited Henry Blackburn – the Colorado State defensive back whose hit sent Hunter to the hospital with a lacerated liver – Wednesday for a bowling outing that raised money for charity, according to ESPN.
Colorado State did not immediately respond to inquiries by USA TODAY.
The outing took place in Boulder, Colorado, which is where the University of Colorado is located and Blackburn's hometown. Blackburn attended Fairview High School, which is a couple miles south of Colorado's campus.
According to ESPN, the event was filmed and will be part of an upcoming video to be published to Hunter's YouTube channel in which both players donated money for a charity that the winner of the bowling game will select.
Blackburn reposted a video shared on Instagram Stories by Colorado State defensive lineman James Mitchell that showed Hunter and Blackburn shaking hands at the bowling event.
The hit took place during a 43-35 Buffaloes victory Sept. 16 at Folsom Field in Boulder.
Blackburn, a senior, was criticized for the late hit on Hunter in the first quarter of the game. Colorado State was penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness. Hunter was slow to get up and was taken to a local hospital. Colorado coach Deion Sanders said after the game that Hunter would miss at least three weeks.
Blackburn received death threats during and after the Rams' loss during the rivalry game against Colorado, the university confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.
Colorado State police and local authorities looked into the threats, which occurred after Blackburn's personal phone number and that of his mother's, along with his campus address and family's home address, were published online.
During a Twitch stream he was hosting Sept. 19, Hunter expressed no ill will against Blackburn.
"It’s football at the end of the day," Hunter said then. "Stuff like that’s going to happen. I just stay humble. He did what he was supposed to do. It’s football. Something like that was going to happen on the field sooner or later. I just got to get up and fight. Good thing the doctors stopped me because if there was no doctors there, I’d still be out there playing. I’m thankful for everyone that helped me that day."
Hunter missed Colorado's loss last week against then-No. 11 Oregon and Sanders confirmed earlier this week that Hunter would miss Saturday's showdown against No. 6 Southern California.
Contributing: Victoria Hernandez
