NFL is Shedeur Sanders’ first major hill to climb

From the very beginning and before any selections were made, I filtered this week’s NFL draft through the prism of Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders and his famous father, Colorado head coach Deion Sanders.

Draft day would be the final chapter of a dramatic story and journey that began at Jackson State University and continued at Colorado, where they rebuilt a major college program. With Coach Prime doing the coaching and the preaching, Shedeur doing the quarterbacking and eventual Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter doing virtually everything, the Colorado rebuild became one of the great stories in college football.

From my perspective, this draft for the Sanders family was a graduation ceremony for Shedeur. Coach Prime had been Shedeur’s coach since pee wee football, through high school and then college. Thursday’s draft would be the final farewell, the handoff as Shedeur headed to the NFL, perhaps among the first five players chosen.

Then came the curveball. Shedeur was not only not drafted in the top five, he was not selected on the first day of the draft. This was an upset, a stunning turn of events. What I framed as a graduation ceremony — a father saying goodbye to his son — became one of the most humiliating evenings of his son’s athletic life.

Throughout the evening, cameras checked in on Shedeur’s draft party in Canton, Texas, where there was nervous optimism. By the end of the evening, there was disappointment which justified the decision to stay put rather than travel to Green Bay. Better to be at home surrounded by friends and family than in an empty green room.

While putting on a good face, Shedeur, with his father close by, watched as Hunter went second overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Then he watched the green room empty out as offensive and defensive lineman, running backs and tight ends were drafted before him.

Ever the confident player, Shedeur faces one of the greatest challenges of his young athletic career. In some ways, it will be the same challenge he faced when he left Jackson State and the universe of HBCU football for a larger stage at the University of Colorado: The challenge to prove he belongs.

Perhaps we were all blinded by the hype, the drama of Shedeur’s well-documented journey from Jackson State to the bigger stage at Colorado, where the triumvirate of Coach Prime, Hunter and Shedeur helped turn a program around.

The relationship between Coach Prime, Shedeur and Shilo Sanders (Deion Sanders’ second-oldest son, a safety at Colorado) was an essential and consistent part of that story. Indeed, it was gratifying to see an African American father and a big-time coach serve both roles with equanimity.

We conflated the beauty of the story with Shedeur being a top-5 caliber draft pick. Shedeur was projected to go as high as No. 3 to the New York Giants or No. 9 to the New Orleans Saints. The Giants drafted Penn State linebacker Abdul Carter and the Saints drafted Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. As Shedeur’s slide continued, there was a chance — a hope — that he would go to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Mike Tomlin as the 21st pick of the draft. The Steelers passed and selected Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon.

The final blow of the evening came when the Giants traded back into the first round to get the 25th pick. Instead of choosing Sanders, the Giants chose Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart. In one of several draft night posts on X, Shedeur was candid: “We all didn’t expect this,” he wrote. “Just more fuel to the fire.”

Shedeur will likely be drafted on Friday, quite possibly by a Cleveland franchise looking to recover from a disastrous decision to give Deshaun Watson a fully guaranteed contract. Perhaps Shedeur can be part of the Browns’ rehabilitation.

Shedeur is fortunate. He loves football, but football is not a make-or-break proposition. His father is wealthy and thanks to Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) money, Shedeur is wealthy in his own right.

He is committed, however, and he is loyal.

A couple of years ago at the end of Prime’s first season at Colorado, he talked about Shedeur’s commitment — and hunger when I suggested that he might be well-served by going to the NFL as a junior. “That’s not an option, he’s coming back,” Prime said at the time.

In the ensuing back and forth, I suggested that since football is such a violent sport, wouldn’t Shedeur be better served by leaving the program, playing in the NFL and getting paid. Prime made it clear that loyalty, not money, was his son’s motivation for staying put.

“What about the punishment that he is going to take next season?” I argued.

“And then he’s going to get hit there,” Prime said referring to the NFL. “Of course,” I responded. “But at least he’ll be getting paid for it.” Prime said, “He’s making money. Money is not his problem. He’s not driven by that; he likes to play this game. He wants to finish with his brother and Travis. He wants to see us build it and do his thing so he can enjoy the fruits of it that’s who he is. He doesn’t run from challenges. He ain’t built like that.”

When Shedeur is selected by an NFL team, his Colorado chapter will officially be closed and the NFL chapter will begin. Coach Prime will return to the University of Colorado to begin a new chapter in Boulder.

I wouldn’t get hung up about where Shedeur is drafted. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was a second-round pick and has played in two Super Bowls and was the Super Bowl MVP last February. Thursday was a setback, a disappointment, but Friday is yet another opportunity.

This will be Shedeur’s first major hill to climb; he’ll do it without being under his father’s watchful eye. Shedeur was the star and often the hero at Jackson State and Colorado. Now, in the real world of the NFL, the verdict was delivered. NFL teams do not see him as a star. He will have to compete, will have to prove all the scouts were wrong about his limitations. They may not even see him as a difference maker.

He’ll have to prove that he is. I have no doubt that he will.