Shedeur Sanders has changed since he no longer plays for his father.
Shedeur Sanders Alters Pre-Game Tradition After Asking Deion Sanders to Stay Away originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Throughout his four-year college football career at Jackson State and Colorado, Cleveland Browns' rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders would walk the sidelines with his coach/father Deion Sanders before every game.
It marked a moment between father and son on one portion of the walk before the two turned into quarterback and coach on the return walk.
Ahead of his NFL preseason debut on Friday against the Carolina Panthers, which saw him complete 14-of-23 passes for 138 yards and two scores in the team's 30-10 win, Sanders kept the tradition alive. The fifth-round pick out of Colorado was spotted walking by himself as if his father were there, ensuring that the tradition lived on in one way or another.
The nod to his strong bond with his father/coach comes after he actually had asked "Coach Prime" not to swing by his training camp practices earlier this month.
A decision that the younger Sanders made since he is not pleased with the fact that he is fourth on the depth chart, and didn't want his dad to be a distraction.
"I don't want him to come and see me get a couple reps, and he is cheering like a good dad," Sanders said. "Like, nah, you can't be proud of me right now. I got to get to where I'm going, and I know it's a lot I got to do to get there.
"It's kind of like I just want everything that I'm doing is just focus on this time, and I don't want no distractions because we know how the media, we know how everybody would take it and take away from the team, just from him being my own dad showing up. So, it is a gift and a curse at the same time."
As of Monday, Sanders is still fourth on the Browns depth chart behind Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 11, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Football
