“You’re Not a Quarterback”: Deion Sanders Remembers Giving Shilo a Reality Check on His Poor Throwing Mechanics

Almost every football player has dreamed of becoming a QB—so did Shilo Sanders. Unfortunately for the future NFL safety, when his father, Deion Sanders, gave him a chance to prove himself under center, it quickly became clear that being a playmaker wasn’t his calling. So much so that watching young Shilo’s poor throwing abilities left Coach Prime with no choice but to deliver a brutal reality check.

Reacting to footage of a teenage Shilo’s initial football throwing sessions, Deion recalled how he had to prematurely cut his son’s QB aspirations by bluntly letting him know that he wouldn’t be a good playmaker. Prime piled on his son’s misery further by making it brutally clear that his brother, Shedeur, would take on the passing role from now on — not him.

For many, this might come across as an extreme form of tough love. But the main reason Deion Sanders dropped these truth bombs on Shilo was his poor passing mechanics. Unlike his younger brother Shedeur, Shilo’s short passes in the footage lacked accuracy and zip.

Coach Prime was simply using his experience and parental care to guide Shilo’s future down the right path—as a defensive back.

“You know, when he threw that duck, I told him, let’s go. Your brother has it from now. Leave it alone. You’re not a quarterback. Your brother has it,” Deion recalled.

Shilo Sanders, unfortunately, hasn’t had the same impact as a safety as his brother has had at the QB position. For instance, he finished his final CFB season this year with 44 solo tackles and 2 fumble recoveries in 10 games.

In a draft class featuring several standout non-QBs primed to go in the first round, it’s hard to see Shilo’s average output and injury history impressing many NFL teams. Unsurprisingly, his name was missing from the recently released NFL list of 329 invitees for the 2025 Scouting Combine.

Shilo’s snub has caused quite some hullabaloo in the media considering the name Sanders associated with him. But for true CU Buffs followers, Shilo’s exclusion isn’t surprising.

Locked on Buffs podcast host, Kevin Borba, for instance, believes that Shilo’s recurring forearm injury last season significantly hampered his output, resulting in NFL teams being left unimpressed by his potential.

“I don’t think Shilo Sanders had the season that NFL teams would’ve liked to have seen this past year. This past year he was injured and clearly when he came back, I think it affected his play, I think it affected his performance,” said Borba.

But that said, Shilo will have one last opportunity to get noticed by the NFL scouts at the Colorado and Big 12 Pro Day. Considering “resilience” is a word that Deion Sanders has often used to describe his second eldest son, don’t be surprised if Shilo works his way into the Combine. He is Deion Sanders’ son after all!