Colorado football QB Shedeur Sanders wins the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award

Shedeur Sanders entered the final home game of his college career with some extra hardware besides the chains he wears around his neck.

The Colorado football quarterback was named the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award winner by the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation on Friday, shortly before his team faced Oklahoma State in the regular season finale.

Required reading: Colorado’s Deion Sanders walks with his sons Shedeur and Shilo on the Buffaloes’ final day

The award is presented annually to the nation’s top senior or upperclassman quarterback who “best exemplifies character, academic and athletic achievement.”

Sanders is just the second Colorado player in the last 21 years to win a major college football award, joining teammate Travis Hunter, who won the Paul Hornung Award last season. He is the first Buffalo quarterback to ever win the National Player of the Year award.

Required reading: Deion Sanders: Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter will play in the Colorado Football Bowl game

Entering Friday’s game against Oklahoma State, Sanders had completed 73.4% of his passes for 3,448 yards, 30 touchdowns and seven interceptions, along with a team-high four rushing touchdowns. His touchdown passes are the most for a quarterback in program history, and in the first quarter of Friday’s game he set the school’s single-season pass yardage record.

Sanders, the son of Colorado coach Deion Sanders, is widely viewed as one of the first players selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. The latest mock draft from USA TODAY Sports has him going to the Carolina Panthers with the No. 7 overall pick.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders wins Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award