It’s no secret that Shedeur Sanders experienced an unprecedented slide on draft night. Many attributed this drop to the quarterback’s abrasive, attitude-filled pre-draft interviews, as well as the intense attention they believed he would bring to a team. However, recently, Shedeur’s father, Deion Sanders, came forward to throw some cold water on that fire, calling the accusations against his son simple lies. Including one in particular that some say seriously hurt his draft stock.
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It was reported during the scouting process that an anonymous NFL executive had Shedeur arrived at one of his pre-draft interviews wearing headphones. The exec called it “the worst formal interview ever.” And days later, Shedeur experienced his draft day slide, with many attributing those anonymous comments as a big reason why.
Deion has now cleared up in a recent interview that this report was completely false, not because Shedeur told him, but because he knows his son is better than that.
“When you sit up there and say something like, he went in a meeting unprepared. Like, dude, Shedeur Sanders?” Deion asked facetiously on Say What Needs to Be Said with Asante Samuel.
“Who’s had six different coordinators, who has still functioned and leveled up every time we brought somebody new in. And you’re going to tell me he had on headphones? Shedeur?” he added.
Deion looked baffled during these remarks. He fully leaned into the camera and tilted his head when questioning the legitimacy of the claims, almost as though he knew they were either baseless or BS.
Many accepted the reports as fact when they were first made. But Deion’s claims paint a different picture. Sure, he holds a bias toward his son. Yet he also knows the kid better than anyone else, and he sees him as a consummate professional.
“Anybody who knows my son understands he’s a professional. Like, he’s going to go into a meeting with headphones on? Come on, man.” Deion shrugged off.
“You know what that tells me, Coach?” Asante Samuel asked. “That tells me that somebody was looking for something. Before they even came, they were already looking for something. Looking for an issue, pre-planned.”
It’s exactly what happened with Shedeur during his pre-draft process. The hype and name power was so inexorably high that the doubts came quickly and hit hard once he got to the NFL Combine. From the get-go, he’s been doubted more than he’s been believed, and in a way that we’ve never really seen before from a prospect.
However, Deion has never doubted not just Shedeur’s ability, but all of his kids. That’s why he made sure to get them in front of a camera from a young age. He knew that there would be a time when they would need to be professionals. And growing up with a camera on them forced them to do that.
“Stop lying. You’ve got to understand, my kids are built for everything. We had 2 TV shows, we had shows in high school with playing football in junior and senior year. So, we’ve always been in front of the camera, so they know how to navigate. They know how to handle themselves. And you’re not going to catch them in no foolery and no mess,” Deion stated.
It was a smart choice by Coach Prime, but it’s yet to pay off. There’s no question that Shedeur has acted like a professional in front of cameras ever since the Combine. However, it hasn’t earned him any goodwill with the coaches just yet.
Shedeur was listed as the QB5 on the Browns’ opening depth chart that they recently released. Despite a dazzling display that he put on during rookie camp, it seems as though he’s going to need to earn his spot if he wants to seriously threaten for the starting job.
But as Samuel says, dogs are always going to rise to the top. So if Shedeur is truly that good, there’s going to come a point where Kevin Stefanski is forced to give the young gun a shot.
