Shedeur Sanders felt like he failed his dad.
Shedeur Sanders Apologizes to Deion Sanders After Browns-Panthers originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
NFL legend Deion Sanders was clearly proud of his son Shedeur for his performance as the Cleveland Browns' starting quarterback in Friday's preseason opener. The young signal-caller, however, felt that he had let his father down.
Sanders led the Browns to a 30-10 victory, recording 138 yards and two touchdowns on 14-of-23 passing. When he completed his first TD pass to Kaden Davis in the second quarter, his dad was quick to react and hype him up.
As the NFL world heaped praise on Sanders, however, the player himself admitted that he was not happy with the way he played. In fact, he graded his performance with just a C-plus, noting that "there’s definitely room for improvement in many areas overall."
The former Colorado Buffaloes QB also proceeded to apologize to his father, emphasizing that he wasn't able to fully achieve what his father told him to do.
"Sorry, pops, I didn't do what I was supposed to do fully," Sanders said in a postgame interview.
In another interview, the 144th overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft explained how he let his father down. According to Sanders, his dad told him to "take advantage of the opportunity" given to him, which he felt he didn't.
When further inquired on why he thinks he didn't make the most of his opportunity, Sanders pointed to his slow start as an issue.
"I would say definitely getting to that rhythm early," Sanders said. "That's something I've been working on even since college. So, we can't, there's no circumstance we could start out throwing 0 and 1 off rip, because then you go in the hole and you got to get back out the hole."
It remains to be seen when Sanders will get another significant opportunity to prove his mettle with the Browns. Regardless of his view, many were impressed.
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was ecstatic and proud of the performance, while an AFC North executive was reportedly "shocked at how good he looks."
Related: Shedeur Sanders' Play With Browns Rookie Leaves Fans in Disbelief
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 9, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Football
