Amid Reports That Deion Sanders Declined to Join CFB 26, Here’s a Look Back at Shedeur Sanders’ Beef With EA Sports Last Year

There are rumors that Deion Sanders has snubbed the opportunity to be part of CFB ‘26. As the video game series prepares to introduce coaching models on the sidelines this year, both the Colorado Buffaloes head coach and even Bill Belichick passed on the chance. It’s a shame for football video game fans who were hoping for more realism in this iteration.

While there is no clarity on whether the reports are true or not, the two weren’t included in the game’s first trailer. Meanwhile, Ryan Day was spotted leading the Ohio State Buckeyes out of the tunnel in the video.

In light of this murmur, it’s interesting to bring up how the Sanders family had beef with EA Sports last year.

In CFB ‘25, Shedeur Sanders’ quarterback rating was tied with Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Carson Beck at 93. Shedeur and Deion Sanders were both livid with the ratings at the time.

“I mean, I don’t believe in — it’s a tie, I don’t believe in ties when it comes to quarterback. When it comes to quarterback ratings, I don’t believe in ties. It’s either a winner or loser, like let’s just get to the point,” Shedeur told Sports Illustrated.

They’re weird remarks, especially to those who know how sports video game ratings work. It’s not like there’s a mastermind at EA saying, “Shedeur 93, Beck 93,” and so forth. The company uses real-life stats and data to input specific ratings for several attributes like accuracy, speed, throw power, agility, etc. All in all, there are 54 distinct stat ratings in the game.

Once all of these ratings are inputted, the game spits out a rating based on the average of the attributes. It’s not uncommon to see players tie, and it’s not a competition; it’s an algorithm. But clearly, some players like Shedeur don’t see it that way.

Deion Sanders chimed in at the time, reiterating Shedeur’s point. He also took issue with Travis Hunter not being the highest-rated player in the game.

“I’m just trying to figure out how can Shedeur be tied with another person. How did that happen? And how can Travis not have the highest score on the game when he’s arguably the best receiver and the best defensive back in college football? So, how can you not be the number one rated guy, period? I don’t understand that either,” Deion said.

Now that’s a great question. Especially since Hunter was front and center on the CFB ‘25 cover, it’s wild that Ollie Gordon II and Will Johnson were tied for the highest rating at 96 when the game was released. However, over time, Hunter eventually rose to the highest rating of 99 through updates.

As mentioned, Belichick is the other rumored CFB head coach who has declined to be part of the game. But this isn’t surprising, as he’s done the same with Madden in the past. It seems Bill is just an older fellow who doesn’t really see the point of it all.

But the Sanders family does, and they’re not in good standing with the company right now. They know video game ratings are how fans track who’s good and who’s not. They wished Shedeur’s rating was a bit higher. Although, he did eventually get bumped to a 95 overall, making him the fifth highest-rated player in the game today.