Troy Renck: Deion Sanders loves his son, but he needs to let Shedeur fight NFL battles on his own

Troy Renck, The Denver Post on May 16, 2026

Published in Football

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DENVER — Father knows worst.

Colorado coach Deion Sanders loves his son and means well. But continued involvement in his career remains a problem.

In an interview with “The Barbershop,” released Thursday, Deion said Shedeur “went through hell” during his pre-draft process and rookie season in Cleveland, alleging that untruthful reporting contributed to the adversity and drama.

Shedeur, a record-setting quarterback in his two seasons in Boulder, fell to the fifth round after many mock drafts pegged him as a top-25 pick. Reporting citing NFL sources claimed that Shedeur bombed his combine interviews, causing the slide.

As a dad, Deion had every reason to be furious with these stories. Destroying a prospect’s character behind the veil of anonymity is bush league. But teams operate in vacuums. For Shedeur to drop to the 144th pick, something gave NFL teams pause, whether it was his skill set, traits or an aversion to distraction.

The Browns, looking for their quarterback of the future since Bernie Kosar, took him because they felt the reward outweighed the risk, that throwing another dart even after drafting Dillon Gabriel in the third round could pay off more than a backup at another position.

Following injuries and ineffectiveness from others, Shedeur got his shot, completing 56.6% of his passes for 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions in eight games.

He is now in a quarterback competition with Deshaun Watson, given a fresh start by new coach Todd Monken.

By all accounts, Shedeur learned from his experience and is ready to compete for the starting job.

That is good news. The bad? Deion plans to travel to Cleveland to talk with Monken.

He says it would be under the guise of Shedeur’s former coach, not his father. But the optics are terrible. Shedeur is 24. A college graduate. This is his fight to fight.

“I can tell him a few things about (Shedeur), how to get him going,” Deion said. “That wasn’t asked of me a year ago. I don’t understand it. Even a guy like Travis Hunter being drafted to Jacksonville and I’ve had him for the last three (years), don’t you think you would want to talk to me to ask me what gets him going and what backs him off? You would want to know that. So, I anticipate, and I can’t wait to have that conversation with Coach Monken.”

Deion coached his son from Pop Warner through college. He prepared him. Now, he has to accept that he has been handed off to someone else.

You think Ty Simpson’s dad, Jason, the long-time coach at Tennessee Martin, wouldn’t want to sidle up to Rams boss Sean McVay during OTAs? Or that legendary high school coach Patrick Nix wouldn’t welcome standing next to Sean Payton at Broncos practice?

Those conversations are for fathers and sons after practice. Away from the field. No one is saying Deion should not communicate with Monken as the CU coach. Send him a text. Or an email. Anything else comes across as helicopter parenting, no matter how Prime frames the discussion.

Shedeur has talent. Let him prove it.