As the regular season nears it’s conclusion, Colorado head coach Deion Sanders is starting to put more focus on the future of his future NFL Draftees: Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter. On Saturday, Colorado got a decisive win over Texas Tech that continued their ambitions of making the Big 12 Championship game and landing a spot in the newly expanded College Football Playoffs.
But, Sanders and Hunter’s future extends far beyond what occurs in the post-season. Both players have shown flashes of skill that will serve them well on the next level and have been talked about as potential first-round draft picks all year.
Per comments on Fox Sports 1’s afternoon show Speak, Sanders implied that he’s going to do what he can to make sure that both Shedeur and Hunter land in the best situation for them.
“Yeah, but I’m not going to do it publicly. I’ll do it privately,” Sanders said when host Keyshawn Johnson asked if he would step in if the “wrong team’ drafted Shedeur. “I’m gonna be Dad until the cows come home, and with Travis as well.”
Sanders has been very specific about the teams he’d want Shedeur and Hunter playing for, especially Shedeur. In an appearance on Chris “Mad Dog” Russo’s SiriusXM program, he implied that he didn’t want Shedeur to play in a traditionally cold-weather city.
“Like, I don’t want my kid [Shedeur] going nowhere cold next year. He grew up in Texas. He played in Jackson, played in Colorado. Season’s over before it gets cold in Colorado. I’m just thinking way ahead. I don’t want that for him,”
He then went on the “Million Dollars Worth of Game” podcast and responded to a question about where Shedeur and Traivs Hunter would fall in the 2025 NFL Draft.
“Top four, anywhere from one to four. One of them is going to be one and the latter one would not go behind four. Now, all of this is subjective because I know where I kind of want them to go. There are certain cities where it ain’t going to happen. It’s going to be an Eli.”
Sanders is referring to Eli Manning’s 2004 draft experience. Manning’s agent, Tom Condon, warned the Chargers that Eli would sit out the entire 2004 season if selected as the first overall pick. Disregarding the threat, the Chargers drafted Eli with the top pick. He was eventually traded to the New York Giants, where he secured two Super Bowl victories and played until his retirement in 2019.
After reports of the implications that Shedeur and Hunter wouldn’t suit up for certain NFL teams if they were drafted their hit the press, Sanders took to a March press conference to respond and further clarify his comments.
“And I don’t know who reported that I said there were several teams that my kids wasn’t going to. Whoever did that is a liar. That’s stupid. And I like to track that. I like to track that stuff down and hold people accountable in the media, man. Like they should not be able to tweet a text or something like they put some stupid out like that. That was, I don’t know who, who ran with that. Who was the first one who reported that?”
Related Colorado Football NewsArticle continues below
In an interview with CBS Colorado’s Romi Bean, he clearly denied implying that he would decline a team attempting to draft for Shedeur, Shilo, and Traivs without his approval of the destination.
“Who said that, and did you see me say that?” he said immediately to the question.
He then continued, “One thing about a lie? A lie is so fast it can outrun the truth any day. That’s a bold-faced lie. That’s a stupid lie. I have more than six owners that are friends. I have more than six GMs that are friends. You’ve got to understand, I played 14 (pro seasons). And I worked another 17, I believe, in the NFL, NFL Network and CBS. I know a lot of people, c’mon.”
Buffaloes look to stay alive in the Big 12 championship race as they face off against Utah on November 16th at 12 PM EST. The game will be broadcast on Fox.