Deion Sanders says the moment his son Shedeur Sanders fell to the fifth round in the 2025 NFL draft was the first time in his life he felt powerless to fix things. In a wide-ranging interview, Sanders tied the lack of an agent to expectations that his son woul
Deion Sanders still sounds shaken when he talks about the 2025 NFL draft and the way it ended for his son. Shedeur Sanders. who dropped all the way to the fifth round.. In a wide-ranging interview with Garrett Bush’s The Barbershop. the Colorado coach said the fall hurt him personally because. for the first time. he couldn’t intervene or “fix it.”
“That was the first time in my life that I couldn’t fix it,” Sanders said.. “I’ve always been able to fix it, with all my kids.. But as that bulljunk was going on and everything was — I couldn’t fix it.. And he wanted me to fix it.. And I didn’t have the power to fix it.. And that hurt, because I felt like I wasn’t there for my son.”
Sanders also explained why he believed Shedeur didn’t hire an agent before the draft. He pointed to the preseason projections that had his son going in the top two picks, asking why there would be a need for representation if the outcome was expected to be straightforward.
“Well, you’re projected to go what, first or second, right? . . . I’ve been through this. So why do you need that? You know, it don’t make sense to give somebody four or five percent — three percent, whatever they get now — and you know where you’re slotted.”
The coach’s account linked that decision to the intensity of the pre-draft noise. describing how damaging claims spread once “bulljunk” started circulating.. He said Shedeur faced “ignorant things” coming out before the draft and insisted those allegations were false.. Sanders singled out claims about Shedeur’s preparation and routines.
“It was some ignorant things came out about [Shedeur] pre-draft and all that, and that was a lie,” Sanders said.. “Like he would never go into a meeting with headphones on.. He would never go into a meeting unprepared.. Like, that’s just not who he is.. There’s no way he could accomplish the things he accomplished without being prepared.. .. .. .. So all that stuff was a lie, man.”
Sanders added that while the reports “didn’t bother him,” they bothered Deion, who said he knew where the claims originated. He also said the family chose restraint and didn’t respond publicly, even as talk swirled in Cleveland.
“Now that bothers me.. It didn’t bother him, but that bothered me.. Because I knew where it came from.. But we never, you know — we took the high road.. I never said where it came from.. I know.. I’m connected like that with a lot of people.. I was that before I was a coach.. So we knew what time it was.. So when people were talking in the Cleveland media and saying this and saying that. we just sit back and laugh. man.”
The draft fallout also fed another tension Sanders addressed: his own comments about coaching in the NFL if it involved his sons. In January 2025, Deion Sanders said, “The only way I would consider [coaching in the NFL] is to coach my sons.” During the interview, he said he never wanted an NFL job.
“I never wanted their job. I love Colorado, man. I love my kids that I have in that locker room. I love the staff. I love all of it. I ain’t trying to coach in no NFL. And I think a couple people may have thought that. And they thought if they brought him in, it would be that.”
One other thread ran through the discussion: the idea that even if the top-pick projection proved wrong. the absence of an agent doesn’t fully explain everything. at least not across the family.. Deion’s remarks about expectations for Shedeur didn’t align neatly with what happened with his brother. Shilo. who wasn’t treated as a high-round target.. The account notes that Shilo later hired an agent after not being drafted and then quickly landed an opportunity to make the 53-man roster in Tampa Bay.
At this point, the narrative shifts from what might have been to what comes next.. Shedeur has a chance to compete after earning the ability to start seven games last year.. The plan now is for him to contend this year with Deshaun Watson for the QB1 position in Cleveland.. If Shedeur wins, the path presented is straightforward: an opportunity beginning Week 1 to develop into an NFL quarterback.
The remaining message from Deion Sanders is blunt in its focus on controllables.. “All players, no matter where they’re drafted, will determine whatever their NFL career is going to be.. Agent or no agent. the talent and the performance as demonstrated day-in and day-out will reveal the player’s NFL fate.” He then put the responsibility squarely on his son: “Put simply. from this moment on. whatever happens is entirely up to Shedeur Sanders.. Not an agent.. Not Deion.. Not anyone but Shedeur.”
Deion Sanders Shedeur Sanders 2025 NFL Draft agent Colorado Cleveland Deshaun Watson Tampa Bay Shilo Sanders