“You Don’t See Joe Flacco’s Daddy Showing Up”: Cam Newton on Deion Sanders Visiting Shedeur Sanders at Browns Camp

Whenever Shedeur Sanders took the field before reaching the NFL, Deion Sanders was there. Deion coached Shedeur in high school, at Jackson State, and at Colorado. He’s not coaching him at the professional level — yet, anyway — but wants to do more than support his son from afar. To this point, though, Shedeur is not allowing it.

In early August, Shedeur told reporters he wanted “to get to where I want to go” before letting Deion come see him in training camp. From an outside perspective, this may seem harsh to some. However, Shedeur has his backers, most notably Cam Newton.

Newton spoke on Deion potentially visiting Shedeur at training camp on his 4th&1 podcast. He pointed to Shedeur saying he wants “no distractions” as the perfect reason for Deion staying away.

“If Deion ‘Primetime’ Sanders shows up to Cleveland, Ohio, it will be a distraction,” Newton said. “You don’t see Joe Flacco’s daddy showing up. You don’t see Dillon Gabriel’s dad showing up. And in the famous words of Bill Belichick, ‘don’t be a distraction.'”

As Newton mentioned, even if Deion is the quintessential father figure at practice, his status brings eyeballs. Shedeur, in the eyes of many, has dealt with unwarranted scrutiny since the NFL combine. Having his father show up wouldn’t ease that negative feedback loop. In Newton’s opinion, it’s easier for Shedeur to ply his trade without Deion being around.

“Shedeur Sanders, and his stardom and what comes with the aura… he can’t control that,” Newton said. “He can’t control that a lot of people are looking at him in a way where it’s like, ‘well, what is Shedeur gonna do?’… stardom aside, what you have to do is put your head down and grind.”

Shedeur’s results to this point back Newton’s assertion. The fifth-round pick has played well in training camp and shined in his preseason debut, tossing two touchdown passes.

Despite his solid showings, Shedeur hasn’t risen up the Cleveland Browns’ depth chart. Joe Flacco was brought in to start, Kenny Pickett is a veteran, and Dillon Gabriel was drafted ahead of him, so that’s not entirely surprising. But with the Browns expected to be one of the league’s worst teams, his time could come sooner than anticipated. And the best way for him to be ready — and stay ready — is without Deion’s presence.