Shane Gillis roasted Shedeur Sanders at the ESPYs over his Colorado jersey retirement

ESPN took a major risk in getting popular, yet controversial, comedian Shane Gillis to host this year's ESPY Awards. Gillis delivered some jokes that landed and others that didn't. His deadpan, politically incorrect humor is found hilarious by some, and not so much by others.

When Gillis is on the stage, nobody is safe. And unfortunately for Shedeur Sanders, he found himself directly in the line of fire with one of Gillis' jokes.

In April, Colorado made the controversial announcement that it would be retiring the jerseys of Sanders and Travis Hunter. The decision ruffled some feathers, considering the Buffaloes had only ever retired four numbers in the past.

Most wouldn't scoff at Hunter, the two-way superstar and Heisman Trophy winner, receiving that honor. But it was the decision to have Sanders join him that drew the ire of many. It also drew the punchline of a Gillis joke on Wednesday night:

"People are saying it's because of nepotism because of his father, it's not," said Gillis in reference to Sanders' number being retired. "It's because he went 13-12 over his career and he almost won the Alamo Bowl. Definitely not nepotism, right?"

Gillis roasting Shedeur Sanders doesn't change what he meant to the program

It's fair to question whether Sanders deserves to have his jersey retired or not. But the only people whose opinion really matters on the subject are the guys who have worn the uniform in the past.

But what isn't fair to question is the impact Sanders had on the program. Transferring in from Jackson State to join his father in 2023, Sanders helped flip the narrative about Colorado football. And he did it with patchwork offensive lines and taking as many hits as any quarterback in the country.

You can poke fun at the 13-12 record in two seasons as the starter all you want, but the truth is it was a major step forward for a proud, yet dormant program that had only two winning seasons since 2005 before last year.

Going 4-8 in 2023 was a three-win improvement from where Colorado was the previous season. Last year was a major breakthrough, with the Buffaloes going 9-4.

Hunter deservedly won the Heisman, but Sanders' impact shouldn't be understated. He had a brilliant final season in Boulder, completing an insane 74% of his passes for over 4100 yards and 37 touchdowns. He was unquestionably one of the best quarterbacks in college football last season.

No jokes or revisionist history will change that fact.