Shedeur Sanders Addresses Not Having ‘Coach Prime’ at Browns Training Camp

The Cleveland Browns’ rookie quarterback doesn’t want his famous father, Deion Sanders, around training camp, and there’s a significant reason why.

Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders takes part in passing drills during Colorado's NFL football pro day in Boulder, Colo., on April 4, 2025. David Zalubowski/AP Photo

Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders lives in the spotlight despite the team taking him with a fifth-round draft pick in April.

Sanders doesn’t want the spotlight to grow brighter with his famous father, Deion Sanders, at training camp. Known as “Coach Prime,” the elder Sanders already visited his other NFL son, cornerback Shilo Sanders, at Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp. Deion Sanders had a Hall of Fame NFL career before his current coaching job with the University of Colorado Buffaloes, where his sons both played last year.

“I don’t want him coming to see me right now because I want to get to where I want to go, then for him to see me,” Shedeur told reporters on Monday. “I don’t want him to come and see me get a couple reps, and he is cheering like a good dad. Like, nah, you can’t be proud of me right now. I got to get to where I’m going, and I know it’s a lot I got to do to get there.”

The younger Sanders is in the middle of a quarterback battle among veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett plus fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel, who was picked in the third round of the draft. Sanders came in as one of the top prospects in this year’s draft, ahead of Gabriel, and plummeted to the fifth round.

That’s despite an otherwise promising collegiate career at Colorado, where Sanders completed 70.1 percent of his passes for 14,353 yards and 134 touchdowns with 27 interceptions. Sanders helped the Buffaloes reach a bowl game in the 2024 season, and Colorado retired his number this year along with former two-way star and Jacksonville Jaguars rookie Travis Hunter.

“I don’t want no distractions because we know how the media, we know how everybody would take it and take away from the team, just from him being my own dad showing up,” Sanders said. “So it is a gift and a curse at the same time.”

Sanders has received minimal first-team reps during the first part of camp, even though Pickett has missed time due to injury. As for Shilo Sanders, he joined the Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent, and he’s working for a spot on the team’s 53-man roster.

Deion Sanders has plenty on his plate, of course, with the college football season around the corner. The Buffaloes open their season on Aug. 29 against Georgia Tech.

The elder Sanders has also been recovering from metastatic prostate cancer treatment, which he disclosed on July 28. Sanders is cancer-free, but he will have adjustments due to surgery as his bladder was removed.

“It’s definitely stay focused mentally,” Shedeur Sanders said about his father’s health. “Dad, he’s one person that he'll handle his, we handle what we got to.”

“So, it was something that we really ain’t even have a formal conversation about because, it was like, ‘Y’all need to focus on what y‘all can focus on. Can’t sit here and feel sorry for me, and then that’s affecting y’all doing that,'” he added.

Deion Sanders has also acknowledged his son’s wish that he not attend camp. The elder Sanders shared that with former Dallas Cowboys teammate and NFL analyst Michael Irvin on July 28.

“Shedeur told me not to come,” Sanders said in the interview. “Let’s get that out. He didn’t want me to come. He [was] like, ‘Dad, I’m getting three, four reps at practice. I don’t want you seeing that. I’m not where I need to be. Let me get where I need to be.’”