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Deion Sanders Threatens to Name NFL QB Coach Who Called Shedeur 'Arrogant'

"Don't make me pull behind the curtain and step in that thing."

Dan Lyons

Deion Sanders (right) with his son Shedeur Sanders on the red carpet before Super Bowl LIX NFL Honors at Saenger Theatre.
Deion Sanders (right) with his son Shedeur Sanders on the red carpet before Super Bowl LIX NFL Honors at Saenger Theatre. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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There may be no more intriguing potential first-round pick than Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. The former Buffaloes signal caller has been in the mix to be the No. 1 player off the board, dueling with Miami quarterback Cam Ward for the honor. We've also seen top quarterbacks slip towards the end of the first round if there's no run on the position in a given NFL draft, and that is certainly a possibility here. Oh, and he's also the son of one of the greatest and most outspoken football players in history, Colorado coach Deion Sanders.

While Sanders is often mocked to go somewhere in the top 10, with numerous potentially QB-needy teams like the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, Las Vegas Raiders and New York Jets in the mix, some projections have him sliding into the teens after some negative coverage coming out of the NFL scouting combine last month.

Most notably, reporter Josina Anderson said she was "disappointed to hear" that a quarterbacks coach for one of the teams drafting in the top seven picks said that Sanders was "'brash' and arrogant.'" Sanders called the assertion into question with a social media post a few days later.

Now, Deion is pushing back on the narrative. During Colorado's pro day, which aired on NFL Network Thursday, he said that he knows the identity of the coach that said it, and laughed about the idea of "pulling back the curtain" on him.

"We like to call that stuff out, though," said Coach Prime. "I know who it is, you're going to make me call him out. You know what team—don't make me pull behind the curtain and step in that thing. ... I try my best to keep it on the high road but I don't know the address!"

That would certainly be an explosive development for this NFL draft cycle, and Sanders has not been shy about his willingness to manipulate the situation to place his sons—Shedeur and defensive back Shilo Sanders—in the best situations to succeed.

And as for Colorado, Coach Prime isn't worried about the Buffaloes' ability to succeed in the post-Shedeur and Travis Hunter era, saying that he believes the 2025 team will be even better than the '24 squad that won nine games.

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Dan Lyons
DAN LYONS

Dan Lyons is a staff writer and editor on Sports Illustrated's Breaking and Trending News team. He joined SI for his second stint in November 2024 after a stint as a senior college football writer at Athlon Sports, and a previous run with SI spanning multiple years as a writer and editor. Outside of sports, you can find Dan at an indie concert venue or movie theater.

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