Colorado's Deion Sanders faces backlash after Browns visit

Deion Sanders chose to stay away from seeing his son, Shedeur Sanders, in Cleveland at this time last year. Not only was the former Colorado Buffaloes quarterback not receiving many first team reps, but everything was still new.

After the historic draft slide and getting picked up by the Browns in the fifth round, Shedeur didn't want to trouble his father by flying across the country. Nobody knew at the time that Deion Sanders was also privately battling cancer.

Fast-forward a year later and the Pro Football Hall of Famer made the decision to pop-up at Browns' training camp this week. Cleveland has seemed to embrace the Sanders family more than last year. Coach Prime soaked up the entire experience, with no fans and very little media coverage.

Todd Monken has built a better bridge toward Sanders' direction than his predecessor Kevin Stefanski did in his final year with the Browns. So it's no surprise the new coach in Cleveland openly welcomed Sanders to practice.

“That was really cool. That was Deion Sanders. Are you kidding me?” Monken said Thursday after meeting with Coach Prime. “Forget that it’s Shedeur’s dad. First, he did an unbelievable job with Shedeur — great kid, obviously an elite football player, baseball player. And then, as a coach, I mean, everything he’s achieved, that was awesome.”

While it's not every day Deion Sanders drops in to do a mental audit of the environment for his son, not everyone saw the visit as a positive step for the team. The Athletic's Jason Lloyd asked if this would be acceptable for other college coaches.

"It’s hard to separate father from college coach in this instance, and there’s an argument to be made that neither belongs in an NFL facility advising the head coach," Lloyd wrote. "I don’t recall Oregon’s Dan Lanning visiting Cleveland to talk about Dillon Gabriel or Sam Pittman or Bobby Petrino flying in to talk to Monken about Taylen Green. Nevertheless, there are unique rules of engagement when it comes to the Sanders family. The Browns learned that the hard way last season."

This was the setup all along for Sanders. He wanted to meet with Monken to pass along tidbits of information about Shedeur. This is so he could say he did his part in providing some background knowledge on his son.

Was it really necessary or is this just his way of trying to be involved? It's the same logic behind wanting to tell the Jacksonville Jaguars coaching staff about the best way to approach Travis Hunter. It's a blurred line between being a coach and a concerned dad.

The Sanders fan base loves to see the continuation between Coach Prime and Shedeur. However, it's time to cut the cord and let him fly. This should be Shedeur's story moving forward. He had a growth year in 2025 and is still in the midst of learning his role for the team. Does that come by being named the starter prior to the season? Absolutely.

This is his time to perform and show why every other NFL team made a mistake. Look at the Browns QB room. Who is better right now? Deshaun Watson still hasn't proven he can work his way up after major injuries. If Watson manages to beat out Sanders, does he stick around for the long haul? It would be a major clue for his future.

Deion Sanders and Monken might not have talked a lot of football. But I'm also guessing that body language played a huge factor for both parties.

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