Shedeur Sanders Sends Heartfelt Message to Dad Deion After First NFL Start

Most walked away from Friday’s 30-10 Cleveland Browns win over the Carolina Panthers in Week 1 of the NFL preseason impressed with what they saw from rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

Several former NFL players including legendary Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin, ex-Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman, former Washington Commanders quarterback Robert Griffin III, and ex-Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant all took to social media to express how impressed they were with Sanders’ performance.

In fact, one executive from a division rival texted NFL insider Jordan Schultz that he was “shocked” with how good Sanders looked against the Panthers defense at Bank of America Stadium.

The 23-year-old rookie threw for 138 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions with a 60.8 completion percentage and 19 yards rushing on four carries, and he seemingly worked his way back into the thick of the Browns’ quarterback competition along with Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco, and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel.

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Sanders was trending on social media for most of the night as fans raved about the impressive performance he put on, but seemingly no one was rooting for Sanders more than his own father, Colorado head coach Deion Sanders.

After Friday’s game went final, Sanders was interviewed by Aditi Kinkhabwala on NFL Network, where he was asked about what he wanted to say to his dad, who was watching at home and posting pretty animated reactions on social media.

“Sorry pops, I ain’t do what I was supposed to do fully,” Sanders said. “But you know, we’ll live to see another opportunity.”

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It’s no secret Sanders has a close relationship with his father, who coached him the last two seasons at Colorado and two previous seasons before that at Jackson State.

Deion actually wanted to visit Cleveland and see Sanders practice in person, but his son told him not to come until he “gets where he needs to be.”

“Shedeur told me not to come,” Deion stated. “He didn’t want me to come. He was like, ‘Dad, I may get three, four reps in practice. I don’t want you seeing that.’

“He ain’t mad. He ain’t bitter. He’s like, ‘I got work to do but I’m going to put in this work. One thing, they’re going to have to let me play, preseason is going to come. When preseason comes, watch me work.'”

After his performance on Friday, Sanders is certainly one step closer to “getting where he needs to be.”

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