Every time I see Shedeur Sanders interviewed by the media, and I mean every time, he is professional, polite, confident and, overall, comes off as a bright young person. I have not seen Sanders any other way.
Maybe there’s another side to Sanders that’s hidden from public view. That’s always possible. That’s also a lot of human beings. But Sanders, the Colorado quarterback who will likely be a high pick in April’s NFL draft, always seems to represent himself and his family well. You can tell something that’s clear: he was raised right.
All of that came through during what was an interesting interview Sanders gave to the NFL Network’s Bucky Brooks during the Big 12 pro day on Thursday. Brooks is a former NFL scout who is one of the most respected talent evaluators in the media and he asked Sanders all the appropriate questions.
Sanders was asked about the draft process so far and also about what’s essentially been a smear campaign against him. His answer was typical Sanders.
‘It’s definitely a learning experience that a lot of things aren’t in your control and just getting the knowledge from dad and just coach, family and friends and everybody, you know that’s supporting me and helping me through this process is extremely important,’ he said. ‘And I’m thankful that I have those resources.’
On the criticism, Sanders added: ‘Well, we always understood to block out the noise, even from Jackson State and Colorado. It’s a lot of critics, it’s a lot of hate. But we know what to do, we know how to handle that in every way. So we remain happy…’
This is what you see with Sanders: a unique ability to stay calm and deal with the criticism. This is a point ESPN analyst Louis Riddick makes constantly.
“Shedeur, in particular, is uniquely equipped to handle the media firestorm that’s going to surround him,” Riddick said. “A lot of it is going to be directed at him simply because of what his last name is and how big and larger than life his father is. A lot of it is going to trickle down to him, but Deion’s telling you you’re wasting your time because he is uniquely qualified to and he has been schooled to deal with the kind of nonsense that’s going to come his way.”
Sanders’ father, Deion, who the NFL Network also interviewed, didn’t mince words about some of the things that were being said about Shedeur, including the fact that his son is arrogant, calling them ‘lies.’
Deion then threatened to name the person he believed was spreading the alleged misinformation before eventually declining to do so.
Again, the perception of Sanders versus the reality seems to be two different things. Is Sanders arrogant? There isn’t a quarterback in the universe that isn’t. It’s a job prerequisite. He doesn’t seem any more arrogant than any other great NFL prospect.
“One of the things that Deion will tell you when you go out there and you go talk to him, just from a football standpoint, and ask him to describe the makeup of Shedeur,” Riddick said. “He’ll tell you that all his life this young man has been wise and mature beyond his years. That he’s someone who looks out for other people. Always on the lookout for other people.
‘Someone who, quite honestly, is a hell of a leader. Now, that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t make mistakes. That doesn’t mean that he’s not going to continue to grow and become better in terms of lifting other people up, but he will tell you he can handle any environment that he is going to go into because Deion has been in just about any environment imaginable from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.”
Some of the criticism of Shedeur is just getting ridiculous. The over-analysis has reached warp core breach levels and the draft is still over a month away.
One of the more fascinating parts of the interview came when Sanders was asked why he doesn’t run as much. Sanders is a pure pocket passer.
‘I mean, it always worked in the league,’ he said. ‘Look at the history of the league. Not everybody was, you know, big time runners back then, back in the day. So you got the greatest quarterback ever, Tom Brady, he (didn’t) run too much. So I feel like the best thing for me is to play from the pocket. And that’s what I’m most comfortable in now.
‘The difference is I’m able to adjust to my team. So if I need to be, if I need to, you know, take different type of drops, if I need to be able to get a little bit more active, then I’m able to do that and adjust my game.’
It was a smart answer. Then again, he gives a lot of smart answers.
Seems like that’s who he is.