“Always Been in His Kid’s Life”: Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson React to Shedeur Sanders Defending Father Deion’s Influence on His Career

Shedeur Sanders and his brother Shilo are on the cusp of being drafted into the NFL, having reached this stage in their football careers thanks, in large part, to the impact of their father, Deion Sanders. To ensure his kids land in the best situation during the Draft weekend in April, Coach Prime continues to hover. A far cry from the ‘absentee father’ stereotype black men are criticized with, felt Shannon Sharpe.

While many detractors have derided Deion for it, Shedeur recently detailed and praised the level of involvement of his dad in his affairs. “I ain’t know your parents being involved and wanting the best for you is a problem,” the 22-year-old QB said.

Reacting to the Colorado alumnus’ comments, Sharpe could only applaud Neon Deion.

“See how they do us. They kill us if we create homes and you’re not there. Everything was around the kid. He’s always been in his kid’s life. We should applaud that,” said Sharpe on Nightcap.

The former Tight End reminded the media that Deion has always been there for his kids, putting them in the right positions and situations. And Shedeur rightly acknowledged his father’s motive and efforts, knowing its importance, added Sharpe.

“We put them in the best situation, I didn’t know that was a problem, that your parents are in your life and they want what’s best for you. And I’m happy Shedeur said that,” he said.

Unc pointed out that many lambast black men (which is what he meant when he said “us”) for being absentee fathers. But when a father in the public sphere like Deion, or even LaVar Ball (in the NBA), is seemingly overbearing, that becomes an even bigger problem.

“He wants the absolute best for Shedeur, and he’s gonna do everything he possibly can, like we all do, to put our kids in situations where they can succeed,” said Sharpe.

“When we got money, and our kids can’t get a scholarship, what do we do? We pay for them to go to school. We put them in the best situation, we’ve been afforded an opportunity, the means, to be able to do that because who in the hell wants worse for their kids than what they had?” he added.

It’s also worth noting that neither Shedeur nor Deion has made any controversial or questionable comments vetoing any specific team. That means so far, it’s really all just talk.

Sharpe’s co-host, Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson, added that a lot of this isn’t about anything more than farming clicks and keeping a narrative going so the media has something to discuss during this downtime in the NFL calendar.

“This shouldn’t be a problem, but obviously the media has to come up with some type of narrative. They have to come up with something. Because they don’t do it for any other quarterbacks. Did they do it for Peyton Manning? Eli? Did they say anything about [their dad] Archie? I’m just saying in general, it’s the only example I can think of, especially at the QB position, but they didn’t do that to them,” said Ocho.

Many fans on X reacted to Sharpe and Ochocinco’s take positively. The issue of black fatherhood was the subject of the overwhelming majority. The stereotype of the absentee black father is a common one. So it’s especially frustrating for most to see a black man like Deion being criticized for being what is deemed as over-involvement in his son’s life. Talk about a catch-22 situation.

No matter what the anti-Deion crowd says about his involvement in Shedeur’s life and career, it surely won’t affect Coach Prime in the slightest. Sanders will continue fighting for the best life and situation for his sons. And that should be applauded.