Colorado deletes apparent flooding reference on Week 5 game poster amid Hurricane Helene impact

On Friday, Colorado football received backlash after its official X account posted an edited graphic of safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig standing in water up to his waist, with a sign in the background reading, “Beware of sharks.” The program deleted the post only minutes after it went live.

Many users on X took issue with Colorado’s graphic, considering the catastrophic conditions many people across the southeastern United States are facing due to Hurricane Helene. The Buffaloes will likely see the disaster the Category 4 hurricane has left in its wake as they hit the road to square off against UCF on Saturday.

It’s worth noting the graphic may also have been a play on Silmon-Craig’s nickname, Shark. The senior DB even has NIL gear with the phrase, “Can’t drown a shark,” written across it. Nonetheless, the water-themed graphic couldn’t have come at a worse time.

Yeah, the graphic design team made this probably several days or even weeks ago, and yeah hard work and money went into this graphic, but not one person in the Colorado athletic department said, “hey maybe let’s not”

And it still exists several hours later pic.twitter.com/qgN7u791dZ

— Brett Gibbons (@roadtocfb) September 27, 2024

As of this report, the Category 4 hurricane has killed at least 40 people across four states. With winds reaching up to 140 miles per hour, Hurricane Helena has left catastrophic destruction in its wake. The hurricane has caused flooding as far inland as Tennessee.

It’s also affected numerous college football programs already. On Friday, Liberty and Appalachian State canceled their game, which was planned for Saturday. The game will not be rescheduled. Additionally, Stanford has faced travel issues trying to reach South Carolina for its showdown against Clemson this weekend.

Colorado isn’t the only program that made the mistake of inappropriately referencing the wet conditions surrounding this weekend. On Friday, Michigan football’s official X account posted an edited graphic of a player standing in ankle-deep water inside Michigan Stadium with the caption, “Looking good in any weather.”

Colorado has not yet addressed the post, which many found insensitive toward the victims of Hurricane Helene. The Buffaloes will square off against UCF at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. The game will air live on FOX.