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Deion Sanders says ‘foolish’ pre-draft reports will give son Shedeur an edge like Tom Brady
The elder Sanders said he was "hurt" by reports of his son being unprepared for pre-draft interviews.
Hall-of-Fame cornerback and Colorado football coach Deion Sanders did not like reports about his son Shedeur Sanders being unprepared for pre-draft meetings.
The younger Sanders, who starred at quarterback for Colorado last season, was widely projected as a first-round draft pick. He slipped to the fifth round where the Cleveland Browns eventually selected him.
The elder Sanders blasted the criticism as “foolish” and said the message was hurtful. He said it may help his son develop an edge similar to the one Tom Brady displayed with the Patriots for two decades.
“It did hurt,” Deion Sanders told former Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel on the “Say What Needs to Be Said” podcast. “But the Bible says God uses the foolish things to confound the wise. There was some foolish stuff that went on, but that gave them something that they needed.
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“Like that edge that Tom [Brady] had, it gave them the edge that you had, it gave them the edge that I have. Folks said we weren’t gonna be nothing. But we had to prove that. It gave them the edge that they needed. Both of them.”
Shedeur Sanders signed an NIL with Brady’s apparel brand while he was in college. Brady has also served as somewhat of a mentor to the younger Sanders, according to ESPN. Last month, Brady told Logan Paul on a podcast that he told Shedeur to use his draft-slide as motivation.
“I actually texted Shedeur because I know him very well,” Brady said in a appearance on the “IMPAULSIVE” podcast, hosted by Paul. “And I said, ‘Dude, like whatever happens, wherever you go, that’s your first day. Day 2 matters more than the draft.’ I was 199. So, who can speak on it better than me? Like what that really means. Use it as motivation, you’re going to get your chances, go take advantage of it.”
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Brady, who was taken by the Patriots in the sixth round back in 2000, is known for his legendary work ethic. The Patriots famously kept four quarterbacks on their roster after cutdown day in 2000, an unusual move that bought Brady some time to show his potential.
Brady wasn’t a fourth stringer for long. By the time Drew Bledsoe was injured on a vicious hit from the Jets’ Mo Lewis during the second game of the 2001 season, Brady stepped in, took the starting job, and never looked back.
But, there have been questions about Shedeur Sanders’s work ethic and professionalism. According to CBS Sports’s Jonathan Jones, Sanders “did not give his all” in meetings with teams that he did not want to be drafted by.
A long time NFL assistant coach told NFL media’s Tom Pellisero that Sanders had the “the worst formal interview I’ve ever been in in my life.” He said that Sanders came across as entitled and had a habit of blaming teammates of mistakes.
Former NFL quarterback Brady Quinn, now an analyst with FOX Sports, said he heard Sanders’s interview process was an “absolute disaster.” Sanders wore headphones, answered FaceTime calls, and came into meetings unprepared, he said.
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“When you sit up there and say something like he went into a meeting unprepared, like, dude,” Deion Sanders said. “Shedeur Sanders? Who has had six different [offensive] coordinators, who has still functioned and leveled up every time we brought somebody new in, and you’re going to tell me he was unprepared?”
“You’re going to tell me he had on headphones? Anybody who knows my son understands he’s a professional. He’s going to go into a meeting with headphones on? Y’all, come on now.”
ESPN currently has four quarterbacks listed ahead of Sanders on the Browns’ depth chart.
Starter Deshaun Watson is expected to miss a significant chunk of time after rupturing his Achilles in October. Cleveland acquired former Steelers first round pick Kenny Pickett in the offseason. Joe Flacco, 40, is listed as the third-stringer. Cleveland former Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel as an undrafted free agent, and ESPN has him in front of Sanders as well.
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