Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders told his father Deion that he didn’t want him to visit him at Browns’ training camp last week because he might only get three or four snaps at practice as a rookie fifth-round draft pick.
Shedeur Sanders has remained a low man on the Browns’ totem pole in a quarterback competition that includes veteran Joe Flacco, third-round draft pick Dillon Gabriel and former Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett.
“Shedeur told me not to come,” Deion Sanders told his former Dallas Cowboys teammate Michael Irvin in a podcast interview posted Monday, July 28. “Let’s get that out. He didn’t want me to come. He’s like, ‘Dad I may get three, four reps at practice. I don’t want you seeing that. Like, c’mon… I’m not where I need to be. Let me get where I need to be.’”
Both of Deion Sanders’ youngest two sons are in NFL training camps as rookies after playing for their father at Colorado. Deion Sanders did visit his safety son Shilo at his training camp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on July 23 before returning to Colorado.
It was part of his father’s plan to visit both after having his bladder removed and then recovering at his estate in Canton, Texas, in May and June. The father said he kept Shedeur and Shilo in the dark about his bladder cancer so they could focus on making their team’s rosters.
Shedeur Sanders tells father Deion ‘I got work to do’
The timeline of his cancer diagnosis also sheds new light on what the father was going through as he watched Shedeur’s disappointing NFL draft experience in late April after he had expected him to be a first-round pick. Deion Sanders was diagnosed with cancer on April 14, according to a video posted by his eldest son Deion Jr. He had surgery to remove his bladder on May 9. But none of that was publicly disclosed until July 28, when Sanders gave a news conference about it in Colorado.
“He’s dealing with it like a pro,” Deion said about Shedeur. “Like, he ain’t mad. He ain’t bitter. He’s like, `I got work to do, but I’m going to put in this work. One thing, they’re gonna have to let me play. Preseason gonna come. And when preseason come, watch me work.’ I’m like, ‘I already know what you’re gonna do. I ain’t worried about that. I know.’ But he didn’t want me to come. And Shilo’s totally the opposite.”
Deion Jr., the oldest son, was with him the whole time, the father said. His two daughters also visited him in Canton while he recovered.
“Every day that I’ve gone through what I’ve gone through, I’ve seen his face every day,” Sanders said of Deion Jr.
Deion Sanders Sr. is now cancer-free, according to his doctor. His Colorado team opens preseason training camp this week before its season opener Aug. 29 at home against Georgia Tech.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com