As much as mama’s boy syndrome has been dissected, there is another parental relationship that has been less documented. But it has become prominent in the case of Shedeur Sanders, the former Colorado Buffaloes quarterback who was inexplicably drafted by the Browns in the fifth round after being initially projected as a top five pick. It’s what it’s like to be a daddy’s boy.
Shadeur, 23, is the youngest son of NFL superstar turned football coach Deion Sanders, who has figured out how to stay in the headlines for almost 40 years. The elder Sanders, 57, who was criticized for his brash and flashy ways when he was drafted in 1989, backed it up with a Hall of Fame career in two sports, becoming the only athlete in history to play in both a World Series and a Super Bowl.
Deion has five children by two ex-wives. His daughter Deiondra, 33, recently made him a grandfather. His son, Deion Jr., 31, runs Well Off Media, the most prominent of several platforms that document the Sanders family’s every move. Shilo, 25, has been his brother’s teammate at two colleges, while Shelomi, 21, plays college basketball.
As Deion himself has said, “I’m not a perfect father but I’m a present one.” Like many fathers with resources, he’s supported his children in their endeavors. That makes him no different than sports fathers like LaVar Ball, Richard Williams and Earl Woods, all of whom pushed their kids to athletic greatness.
Archie Manning, the father of NFL champion quarterbacks Eli and Peyton Manning and grandfather of Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning famously said that his son Eli wouldn’t play for certain teams he deemed not up to his standard. Deion said the same in an appearance on The Tamron Hall Show, reasonably explaining that as someone with insider knowledge of the NFL, he could see behind the curtain.
Though Deion says he’s tight with all his kids, he and Shedeur have a close relationship, one that seems more loving than many of the aforementioned sports fathers. While LaVar Ball was obviously a present father, his relationship with his kids felt distant, with no one son a clear favorite.
Tiger Woods and his father Earl Woods’s relationship veered on the exploitative, with Earl pushing his son to golf dominance that it was unclear Tiger wanted, at least in his younger days. Kobe Bryant’s relationship with his father, former NBA player Joe Bryant, was the casualty of his NBA success, to the point that his parents were estranged from him when he died.
From the time they were on reality TV a decade ago, Shedeur and his father shared a noticeable bond despite Deion’s acrimonious breakup with his mother, Pilar. Shedeur was happy under his father’s wing. An affable kid, he’s become an affable adult who followed the career path set by his father with nary a complaint, from Jackson State University to the University of Colorado.
Through the toughest times Deion Sanders always had Shedeur Sanders’ back. Fans resurface touching moment between Deion and young Shedeur
pic.twitter.com/9UrPNPhexP
— Kollege Kidd (@KollegeKidd) April 27, 2025
Trailed by cameras during all of his waking hours, the spoils of his NIL deals – expensive watches, jewelry and cars, a relationship with actress Storm Reid – were loudly documented. And never once have the cameras caught Shedeur saying an unkind word, being mean to his teammates, disrespecting or even questioning his father or losing his poise, even as cameras rolled while he was publicly humiliated and prank-called during the most intense moments of his life.
There are numerous theories about his precipitous fall, which shocked veteran sports pundits like Mel Kiper, Stephen A. Smith, Skip Bayless, and even Patrick Mahomes, who tweeted “Crazy” as the draft went on. Most observers felt the NFL was trying to send a message through anonymous coaches, saying Shedeur came off as “entitled and disinterested” in team visits.
His interviews were deemed too cocky and his branding as “Legendary” without playing a single NFL down were deemed too much in a league where overrated white stars are viewed as “humble” and “playing the right way.” To provide some perspective, Shedeur was drafted behind a prospect who had two sexual assault allegations. It was said that teams were afraid Deion would interfere with his son’s team. But doesn’t Deion have a day job? One that he just signed a lucrative contract for that would keep him pretty busy during an NFL season?
Even after choosing him at 144, the tone of Sanders’ call with the Browns leadership was condescending. They told him he’d have to “earn his keep” as though he wasn’t named the most accurate passer in the history of the FBS, and hadn’t been essential in helping his father take a team that won a single game before him to college football relevancy.
Concerns about him taking too many sacks (umm, with a sh—y O-line) and having a mediocre arm? If that’s the case, he was judged by more stringent criteria than the multiple mediocre QBs picked ahead of him. Truth is, no one has figured out a formula for consistently choosing great quarterbacks. Tom Brady, the GOAT until someone surpasses his achievements, was picked in the third round. The QB who went first in Brady’s draft year never played in the NFL.
In an epic takedown of the league, Smith said that NFL owners conspired to embarrass Deion Sanders for being just a little too successful at football and too vocal about it.
But I wonder if it was seeing a Black father/son relationship without any obvious signs of dysfunction, with no allegations, no cases, no drama, nothing but a devoted father-and-son relationship, if normalizing that was the real problem. Pre-draft stories in multiple sports praise devoted Black single mothers but barely include Black fathers who have been there as well.
NBA icon LeBron James was highly criticized for getting his son Bronny drafted to the Lakers and playing with him, though cases of nepotism abound all over sports. Maybe Black athletes without fathers are easier for white owners, coaches and agents to control and amplifying ones with strong dads in the picture isn’t a precedent the league wants to set.
Regardless of the outcome of his football career, Shedeur will be just fine, as will his siblings. But it’s the lesson being sent to other kids with present, involved fathers, who saw the public repudiation of confident Black men who teach their kids the same qualities.
The NFL and other pro sports want to profit off your greatness as long as you aren’t too vocal about it. They want you to be not just humble, but pliable. It sets the tone for everyone else. Because, as we’ve seen, when Black men profess their abilities, their confidence, and their pride in themselves, someone will find a way to set them straight. That’s what hurt Deion and Shedeur. But in the end, greatness needs no permission. And the Sanders family? They’re already…legendary.
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