What critics of Deion Sanders and son Shedeur don't understand
Since the day Deion Sanders named his son Shedeur the starting quarterback for his team at Jackson State four years ago, there has been no shortage of journalists, commentators and fans who have openly challenged whether the younger Sanders is good enough.
That didn't change when Shedeur Sanders had his jersey retired at Folsom Field — one of just six in its history — alongside Travis Hunter during Colorado's spring game. Many, including former players at Colorado, found the decision to retire those jerseys either too soon (Hunter) or not worthy (Sanders), given some of the luminaries who have played at CU and have not had their jerseys retired.
The fact is, we wouldn't much care what Colorado decided to do if Deion Sanders were not its head coach. Fewer would question how good Shedeur Sanders is as a QB if he weren't his father's son.
Good enough to start at an FCS program? He became the first player to win the Jerry Rice Award, given to the nation's top freshman, at an HBCU — in history.
Good enough to lead a team to a championship? He led Jackson State to back-to-back SWAC championships.
Good enough to start as a Power 4 QB? He was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year after leading the Buffaloes to their first winning season since 2016 and passing for a school-record 4,134 yards with 37 TDs and 10 interceptions. The best player on his team, Hunter, won the Heisman Memorial Trophy in part because Sanders was throwing those passes to him.
Coach Prime has been vocal about his son's achievements each step of the way. In a sport that has seen its fair number of overengaging fathers, especially to quarterbacks, Prime seems to have an uncanny way of getting under the skin of others for doing exactly what we ask fathers, particularly Black fathers, to do. I asked him if he believed it's fair that he receives negative criticism for being so engaged with his sons as head coach.
"I'm present," Sanders told FOX Sports. "I'm present and not apologetic about being present."
Sanders has five children, one of whom gets more headlines than the others, and each of them has received every gift he could extend to them, including his ability to stand in his confidence. Prime does not kowtow to anyone, and neither do his children. At the NFL Scouting Combine in February, Shedeur put his confidence on display.
[MORE: Deion Sanders is college football's ultimate trendsetter; it's time to embrace it]
"If you're not trying to change the franchise or the culture, don't get me," Shedeur said in February. "We went from Jackson State to Colorado and changed two programs back-to-back. So you don't think I can come to an NFL franchise and change the program again? It's history."
And he has shrugged off what those who do not believe in that change have said since.
"You think I'm worried about what critics say, what people gotta say? You know who my dad is? They hated on him, too," Shedeur said in Indianapolis. "We like adversity. We like everything that comes with the name. That's why we are who we are."
Prime was not surprised by what his son said at the lectern in Indianapolis. It's what he's come to expect because that is the kind of son, the kind of children, he raised.
"My kids aren't just happy to be there," Deion told FOX Sports. "They expect to be there. My kids ain't gracious because you clap. They don't give a darn if you clap or not. My kids are really good athletes, but they're really good people, and they're not looking to inflict pain. They want to bring joy, and every time you see them, they're smiling. Win or lose, they are smiling. They have the same composure, and you have never seen them out of character."
So what is it? Why do many question the validity of Shedeur Sanders as a first-round draft pick? The kind of talent that can change the fortunes of a franchise like Patrick Mahomes did with the Kansas City Chiefs, C.J. Stroud has with the Houston Texans or Jayden Daniels has with the Washington Commanders?
After Shedeur continued to put up numbers and wins in ways that no one at Colorado had managed in nearly a decade, I asked Prime why he thinks so many have chosen to criticize him and the star athlete his son is.
"The Sanders, we've been around for a long time," Deion told me. "It's like they're tired of us, RJ. I've been successful. You had to deal with me in football, you had to deal with me in baseball and you had to deal with me on television. Now you have to deal with me as a coach. You got to deal with me as a father. Now you have to deal with my kids."
Sanders continued.
"It's like people are saying, 'This is enough. I'm sick of dealing with him. Can he go away? Here goes his kid, acting just like him.' We don't want to bother anybody. We won't start it, but we will finish it."
It's been true. Many forgot Prime had begun talking about Hunter winning the Heisman at halftime of his first CU game against a ranked TCU in 2023. Some had forgotten that Prime said he had one of the best quarterbacks in the country at Jackson State in Shedeur.
Or maybe they didn't. Maybe they never will. Maybe there is only so much any person on this earth can do or say to change a stubborn mind.
What has been certain, though, is that Deion Sanders and his family have been one of the most attractive and alluring subjects in sports for nearly four decades. And that is not likely to change after the NFL Draft. If anything, we will hear and see more of them — certainly not less.
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast "The Number One College Football Show." Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young and subscribe to "The RJ Young Show" on YouTube.
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