Colorado football coach Deion Sanders gave his first extensive remarks about his quarterback son Shedeur’s disappointing NFL draft experience, saying the ordeal “did hurt” him emotionally and disputed claims that Shedeur acted unprofessionally in pre-draft interviews with NFL teams.
Sanders spoke about it in a podcast on Friday with former NFL cornerback Asante Samuel after dealing with an unspecified health issue in recent weeks at his estate in Texas. His son was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round in April after previously being projected by experts as a first-round pick.
“When you sit up there and say something like he went into a meeting unprepared, like dude, Shedeur Sanders, who’s had six different coordinators?” Deion Sanders said on the podcast.
He said claims about his son’s professionalism were untrue and said to “stop lying.”
“They want to create these narratives and create these stories and then attach them to a kid that ain’t never done nothing wrong,” Sanders said.
One rumor was that Shedeur wore headphones to a team meeting.
Sanders shot that down.
“You gonna tell me he had on headphones, Shedeur?” Deion Sanders asked. “Anybody know my son understand he’s a professional. Like he’s gonna go into a meeting with headphones on?”
Samuel told him Shedeur is a “dawg” who would “rise to the top.”
Sanders then admitted how the situation made him feel.
“It did hurt,” Sanders said. “It did hurt.”
But he said two of his sons are using their NFL draft disappointments as motivation and that both were “built” for this situation. His middle son Shilo, a safety, was not drafted and instead signed with Tampa Bay as an undrafted free agent. Deion Sanders cited the case of legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady as an example after Brady was selected in the sixth round of the draft in 2000.
“The Bible says God uses the foolish things to confound the wise, so it was some foolish stuff that went on, but you know what? That gave them something that they needed … like that edge that Tom had,” Sanders said.
Sanders, 57, has been out of the media spotlight since the NFL draft in April and suggested it was related to a health issue.
“I hope you’re feeling better,” Samuel said to Sanders.
Sanders said “what I’m dealing with right now is at whole nother level” but said he’s coming back after losing about 14 pounds. He previously had several surgeries to deal with blood clots in his legs.
His Buffaloes team opens the season on Aug. 29 at home against Georgia Tech.