Colorado coach Deion Sanders’ son, Shedeur Sanders, finally made his NFL debut on Sunday for the Cleveland Browns. With 12:43 remaining in the third quarter, quarterback Dillon Gabriel was ruled out of the game with a concussion, allowing Shedeur to enter the game.
Sanders went 4-of-16 for 47 yards, while throwing one interception and being sacked twice during his NFL debut.
Coach Prime Reveals His Pride at Shedeur Sanders’ Debut
In a clip posted on the “Well Off Media” YouTube page on Monday, the beleaguered Coach Prime confessed to being emotional at his son’s NFL debut.
“Shedeur got in today, and I told him he was gonna get in,” coach Prime said. “But, I was thankful and happy. I was in tears, he called me screaming.”
Shedeur began his college football career under his father’s guidance, first for the Jackson State Tigers and later for the Colorado Buffaloes. He finished his college football career with 14,327 passing yards, 134 touchdowns, and 27 interceptions, while adding 29 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns.
Sanders Admits to Poor Performance in NFL Debut
During his postgame news conference, Sanders admitted to performing poorly during his NFL debut, but revealed his excitement at being on the gridiron for the first time since his college football heyday with Colorado, ranked 62nd in the PFSN’s CFB Playoff Meter.
“I don’t think I played good at all,” Sanders said. “I think there’s a lot of things we need to look at during the week and go and just get comfortable with even throwing routes with (wide receiver) Jerry (Jeudy) and throwing routes with all those guys. I think that was my first ball to him all year.
“I just think overall, we just got to go next week and understand, so that we have a week to prepare stuff I like to do. I think you’ve seen, it was just rough, overall. It was a rough day, overall. But the thing that I was excited about is just being able to get out there. This is the first time I got hit since my last game at Colorado.”
Sanders has had to bide his time as Gabriel’s backup, after starting his career in the NFL as the Browns’ No. 4 quarterback, before Joe Flacco was traded to the Cincinnati Bengals and Kenny Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders, moving him up the depth chart.
During training camp, the former Colorado quarterback practised with the third-stringers. During his postgame news conference, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski revealed that Sanders had not yet practised any reps with the first team offense before Sunday’s game.