In college football, the calendar moves quickly.
Just days after the 2024-25 season ended and a national champion was crowned, the attention immediately turned to the pre-draft process for many players. That starts with the East-West Shrine Bowl, which has been holding practices all week leading up to the game on Thursday, Jan. 30.
Travis Hunter is not in Arlington for the event, leaving all of the national spotlight on Shedeur Sanders. The Colorado quarterback is not practicing or playing in the game, but he is present to support his Buffs teammates and do interviews with NFL teams.
“It was truly exciting that I was able to meet everybody and they were able to ask questions and understand me also,” Sanders said Sunday after meeting with the Tennessee Titans.
The Titans are in play for Sanders with the No. 1 overall pick and a glaring need at quarterback. The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award winner has also spent time with the New York Giants brass, who hold the No. 3 overall pick.
One of the big questions surrounding Sanders is how he will fare without his father coaching him. Deion Sanders has coached Shedeur for his entire life, from youth league to Jackson State to Colorado. After the Dallas Cowboys quickly moved on from discussions with the Colorado head coach for their opening and promoted offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to be their new boss on the sidelines, it was all but confirmed that Sanders will be playing for somebody else for the first time.
Despite his lack of familiarity with the situation, Sanders isn’t worried at all about playing for someone else nor is he bothered by the amount of attention that his dad brings to him during this process.
“I didn’t know your parents being involved and wanting what’s best for you was a problem,” Sanders said. “I think as parents, each and every one, they want the best for their kids. So, the fact that [Deion] has the opportunity to do that for me and he has the best quarterback in the country, he’s supposed to do that.”
Sanders is competing with Miami’s Cam Ward, his good friend and offseason training partner, to be the top quarterback selected in the upcoming draft. Sanders called it “friendly competition” between the two who were also going back and forth for all of the major quarterback awards in college football in 2024.
Like any competition, Sanders wants to be the first guy off the board. Sunday, he kept it short and sweet when asked what is the number one thing he will bring to an NFL team
“A lot of wins,” Sanders said confidently. “A lot of wins.”
He later went into some more depth about his status as a prospect. This quarterback class has been widely regarded as “weak” especially when compared to last year’s, but Sanders firmly believes that he can do the same thing in the NFL that he did at both of his college stops.
“We changed the program at Jackson State,” Sanders stated. “We went to Colorado and changed the program. We did everything people didn’t think we were able to do. That’s how I know I’m the most guaranteed risk you can take.”
Regardless of where he ends up — whether it be Tennessee, New York or somewhere else — all of the eyeballs around the country will be on Sanders during his rookie season and beyond. He believes that his rookie year and his pro career will be legendary no matter the situation.
That’s the word that he consistently uses to describe himself: legendary. Check in on his press conferences, his social media posts, his podcast, and everything is legendary. He talked about what the word means to him at the Shrine Bowl.
“That’s what’s ingrained in me is legendary,” Sanders said. “That’s the word of choice that fits me overall. It would be extremely hard for somebody to replicate and do what we did in my career so far and in life overall. That’s why legendary means so much to me. It’s that mindset, it’s the way you go about yourself. It’s everything to me and it means a lot to me also. I’m thankful that’s the word that describes me.”
Multiple Buffs will be in action on both sides of the ball when the Shrine Bowl kicks off on Thursday. LaJohntay Wester, Will Sheppard and Jimmy Horn Jr. are all playing at wide receiver while Shilo Sanders and Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig get their opportunity to perform at safety.
Sanders also said that he was unsure whether or not he would throw at the NFL Scouting Combine (Feb. 27-March 2) or Colorado’s annual pro day. As it stands, there is a chance that he may be content just doing interviews from now until the draft in April.
The East-West Shrine Bowl will kick off at 6 p.m. MST on Thursday and be televised by NFL Network.
