Shedeur Sanders “went through hell” during the draft process and his 2025 rookie season with the Browns, according to his father.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders blamed what he said was untruthful reporting during his interview with “The Barbershop” posted on YouTube on Thursday.
“When he takes off his shirt, I see the scars on his back that he’s been through hell, but he’s made it through hell,” Deion Sanders said of his son, a quarterback. “He kept going and he matured, not like he was a child, but he matured spiritually,” he said.
The 24-year-old Shedeur, he added, came to understand, “You can’t force this. If it ain’t your time, it ain’t your time.”
Considered a first-round prospect heading into the 2025 NFL Draft, Shedeur Sanders slipped to Day 3 when Cleveland finally took him in the fifth round (144th overall).
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“It was some ignorant things came out about him predraft and all that, and that was a lie,” Deion Sanders said. “Like, he would never go into a meeting with headphones on. He would never go into a meeting unprepared. Like, that’s just not who he is. There’s no way he could accomplish the things he accomplished without being prepared.”
Deion Sanders said the negative reporting continued in Cleveland.
“A lot of things that was said ... it bothered me, but it didn’t bother him,” he said. “He just wanted the opportunity to get on the grass and do his thing.”
Shedeur Sanders started seven games as a rookie, completing 56.6% of his passes for 1,400 yards with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 169 yards and one TD and earned a Pro Bowl invitation.
Deion Sanders said he wants to meet with new Browns coach Todd Monken to discuss his son’s development, having coached him in high school and in college.
“I want to meet him because I think it’s vital that as a coach, not the dad, I can tell him a few things about (Shedeur), how to get him going,” Deion Sanders said. “That wasn’t asked of me a year ago. I don’t understand it. Even a guy like Travis Hunter being drafted to Jacksonville and I’ve had him for the last three (years), don’t you think you would want to talk to me to ask me what gets him going and what backs him off? You would want to know that.
“So, I anticipate, and I can’t wait to have that conversation with Coach Monken.”
The Browns enter the offseason with four quarterbacks on the roster with Sanders, Dillon Gabriel, Deshaun Watson and 2026 sixth-round pick Taylen Green out of Arkansas.
