Broncos Bring Safety With Reputation for ‘Dirty’ Play Into Minicamp

In the case of Colorado State safety Henry Blackburn, he’s still trying to shake one play that has continued to follow him as he tries to make an NFL roster.

The Denver Broncos are bringing in the Boulder, Colorado, native and 2-time All-Mountain West Conference pick for rookie minicamp in the hopes he can show enough to earn a training camp invite and, in the process, possibly shake off his reputation as a “dirty” player that’s followed him the last 2 years.

“Colorado State safety Henry Blackburn is one of the most recognizable faces invited — a longtime leader in the Rams’ secondary and prolific tackler,” The Denver Post’s Luca Evans wrote on May 7. ” … After a tumultuous college career that included an infamous hit on CU’s Travis Hunter in the 2023 Rocky Mountain Showdown — and subsequent peacemaking — Blackburn will have an opportunity to continue a Colorado journey that began at Boulder’s Fairview High.”

It’s that hit on Hunter — one of the dirtiest plays you could make — that still follows Blackburn around. It also impacted his life in some pretty profound ways.

From KDVR.com: “A day and a half after the Colorado Buffaloes beat the Colorado State Rams in overtime, CSU staff said one of its players has been receiving death threats. The CSU Athletic Department said defensive back Henry Blackburn and his family have been the target of threats on social media. Additionally, their phone numbers and addresses were published online before the game was over.”

Unique Way Hunter, Blackburn Patched Things Up

The hit by Blackburn on Hunter lacerated the liver of the future Heisman Trophy winner and No. 2 overall pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2025 NFL draft.

After hearing of the threats against Blackburn and his family, Hunter requested the 2 meet in person. Hunter explains in an accompanying video there is no bad blood and he didn’t want people to threaten Blackburn or his family. They even went bowling together.

While that helped somewhat, the lasting memory of Blackburn is him hitting Hunter at full speed, out of bounds, and several seconds after the ball had already hit the ground.

It’s a play that’s mostly obfuscated what was a pretty stellar career for Blackburn, who had over 70 tackles each of his last 2 seasons to go with 4 interceptions and 10 tackles for loss.

Safeties No Longer Strike Fear in NFL

In another era, Blackburn would have perhaps had a much easier path to making an NFL roster, but in the modern era of football safeties just don’t strike fear in opposing teams like they used to. That’s thanks almost in total due to increased player safety rules in the NFL.

The comparison for Blackburn that readily comes to mind is former NFL safety Chuck Cecil, who once graced the cover of Sports Illustrated with the headline “Is Chuck Cecil Too Vicious For The NFL?” in 1993.

In another era, players like Cecil, San Francisco 49ers safety Ronnie Lott and Philadelphia Eagles safety Brian Dawkins could control games by forcing opposing players to always account for where they’re at out of concern for their own personal safety. Just not anymore.