Most athletes have pregame rituals they never break. Baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs ate chicken before every game. Former LSU football coach Les Miles would eat blades of grass from the field. Michael Jordan wore his North Carolina practice shorts in every game under his Chicago Bulls uniform.
Shedeur Sanders’ ritual at Colorado was meeting his father, Deion, at the 40-yard line and walking to an end zone and back. Now that he’s in the NFL and his father isn’t with him, he’s continuing the ritual alone.
How Did Deion and Shedeur Sanders’ Pregame Ritual Start?
In the Cleveland Browns’ first preseason game against the Carolina Panthers, Shedeur was seen doing his pregame walk alone, and the internet lit up with praise for continuing his ritual.
Sheduer started against the Panthers and lit up the field, completing 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns. He showed poise and calm, protected the ball, and added four carries for 19 yards in a 30-10 Browns win.
perfect timing ⌚️
(via mckpat95/TT) pic.twitter.com/Q16Bpod3RQ
— NFL (@NFL) August 10, 2025
It was only his first live game action. Still, his performance was a reminder that for all of the criticism Sanders has faced, he’s also handled his unique situation with professionalism and class.
Everyone knows that Deion was Shedeur’s head coach at Colorado and acted as his agent when he entered the draft, but people sometimes forget that, first and foremost, Deion is his father. For all of his bluster and brashness, he takes his job as a father as seriously as he does as a coach.
The pregame walk ensured Shedeur’s head was in the right place.
“When we go down from the 40 to the goal line, I’m dad, you know,” Deion told Pat McAfee. “I’m making sure he’s straight, how he feel and all that. I’m the father.”
“It always ends with ‘let them know.’ I want them to know our last name before we walk off this territory,” Deion told McAfee. “And he say, ‘I’m a Sanders.’ And I say, ‘Alright. Let’s go show them what we know. And we kiss. And we go to work.’”
Sanders’ start came after a series of injuries opened the door. Kenny Pickett injured his hamstring in late July, and Dillon Gabriel has been dealing with a lingering hamstring injury himself.
The Browns travel to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles on Saturday, August 16, at 10 a.m. EST.
