BOULDER — Because of course he does, Shedeur Sanders has a working relationship with Tom Brady. Personal and professional.
“I’m actually supposed to go meet with him in April,” the CU Buffs’ new QB1 said earlier this week when asked about his pal TB12. “So that’s when I’ll have more for you.”
In addition to NIL deals with Beats by Dre, Gatorade and PLB Sports, coach Deion Sanders’ son is a brand ambassador for Brady’s clothing line, too.
“(I’ve) talked to (Brady) here and there,” the Buffs QB continued. “After we get out of spring ball and after (the) spring game and all that, then I’ll have a chance to really sit down and talk with him. But right now, (I’m) just more focused on what’s going on in the present moment. And what’s here.”
Good answer. Better sign.
Timeout for trivia. Who was the last CU QB to throw for at least 20 touchdowns in a season, and what was the year?
The answer? Sefo Liufau, with 28 scores. All the way back in 2014.
So we’re going on, what — nine seasons and almost 10 calendar years now? Most of them pretty long, fairly lean years. With a global pandemic in the middle to shake things up.
It’s Coach Prime’s program. It’s Shedeur Sanders’ season. The latter is the point guard and conductor, the one who’ll have the rock in his hands on third-and-who-knows whenever USC or Oregon start pinning their ears back.
For all the attention on the father, the Buffs will go as far as the son goes. And he’s cool with that.
“You’ve got to understand, I’m with (Coach Prime) almost every day so he knows my focus, he knows what I’m doing,” the younger Sanders said. “He knows my mindset.”
With Shedeur, we focus on the last name, don’t we? Maybe’s there preferential treatment. Maybe there’s a different standard. What we forget is that ESPN graded out the younger Sanders as a 4-star QB prospect coming out of Trinity Christian (Texas) High in the Class of 2021.
Or that he fielded offers from Alabama, Arizona State, Baylor, CSU, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Houston, Louisville, LSU, Memphis, Michigan, Oregon, Penn State, South Carolina, Syracuse, UCF, UCLA, Utah State, UTEP and Vanderbilt.
Or that he tossed almost as many touchdowns as a sophomore at the FCS level (40) with Jackson State as fellow Texan Cameron Ward did with FCS Incarnate Word (47) the year before. The latter jumped from Word to Washington State for the ’22 season and threw for 3,231 yards and 23 scores over his first Pac-12 campaign. Buffs fans would take that from Sanders in half a heartbeat.
“(Shedeur) flashes to me because I’ve been around some really good quarterbacks in the last 10 years,” CU defensive coordinator Charles Kelly offered Monday. “And he flashes. I’m not coaching him, but he’s flashing to me.”
Kelly tossed out that praise unprompted, by the way. And when I asked one of Sanders’ new favorite targets why his QB can play at a Power 5 level a few minutes later, Jimmy Horn Jr. didn’t hesitate.
“(Shedeur is) smart and he got great accuracy,” said Horn, a wideout who just transferred in from South Florida. “And every time (he) throws the ball, it’s on-point. And if you mess up on something, he’s (going to) tell you what he was thinking and how you messed up and stuff like that. And then you go work on it.”
So they grind. For a kid who’s got his dad’s flair and Hollywood smile, Shedeur also shares his father’s passion for details, for sweating the small stuff. Hence the nickname “Grown,” which Deion Sanders bestowed upon the future Buffs QB at the age of 7.
“I really like what (offensive coordinator) Sean (Lewis) is doing and Shedeur does as well,” Coach Prime said. “Shedeur is not a quiet, silent-type quarterback where he’s going to sit down and take anything you write up on the board. He knows football. He comes from a football family. So he knows (B.S.). And he’s not seeing (B.S.), he’s seeing a real, pro-style offensive coordinator that knows exactly what he’s trying to accomplish. And I like the marriage that they have thus far.”
If the young man’s last name was “Smith” or “O’Reilly” and Coach Prime had plucked a 4-star with that kind of resume out of the transfer portal, CU faithful would be doing cartwheels halfway to Nederland.
“No matter what it is, we compete each and every day,” Shedeur said. “It’s more of the pressure of competing, basically, against the world, competing against each (other) every day … That’s where the real competition is … knowing that each and every game (brings) a target on your back, you’re going to want to come hard every single game.”
The son doesn’t have to be the next TB12 for CU to soar. But a little Sefo would sure go a long way toward getting this bird up off the ground again.
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