Colorado coach Deion Sanders says it will be ‘strange’ to watch son Shedeur in first NFL preseason game
BOULDER — Deion Sanders admits it will be weird watching son Shedeur make his NFL preseason debut Friday night.
For most of Shedeur’s life, Coach Prime has been on the sidelines and leading the team his son is quarterbacking. No longer.
While Deion is in Boulder, Shedeur took his pregame walk on the field by himself as the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns’ preseason game against the Carolina Panthers.

Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders warms up during a practice at the team's NFL football training camp Friday, July 25, 2025, in Berea, Ohio. (AP Photo/David Richard)
David Richard
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders warms up during a practice at the team’s NFL football training camp Friday, July 25, 2025, in Berea, Ohio. (AP Photo/David Richard)
“It’s gonna be strange for both of us,” Coach Prime said Friday during CU’s fall sports media day at Folsom Field. “This time I’m well, but me going out there taking that (pregame) walk (on the field) and him taking that walk and he knows I’m not there, that’s different for him. He’s so prepared right now. A lot of people are approaching it like a preseason game; he’s approaching it like a game. That’s how he’s always approached everything.”
There has been talk throughout Browns training camp as the quarterback competition has heated up between veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett and recently drafted rookies Sanders and Dillon Gabriel.
Listed as the fourth-string quarterback on the initial depth chart, Shedeur maed a great first impression on Friday night with a 13-of-24 with 2 touchdowns performance.
“He’s thankful and appreciative of the opportunity,” Coach Prime said. “He don’t get caught up in all the rhetoric in the media; he’s far beyond that. He was coached through that when he was a kid. Some of the stuff is just ignorant, some it is really adolescent.
“I just can’t wait to see him get down tonight, but it’s gonna be a little weird and a little strange. I gotta admit that. I’m praying for him, and God has set him up in a perfect position that he needs to be in. It’s gonna be a problem after tonight, I promise you that.”
Shedeur played against former Buffs teammate Jimmy Horn Jr., a wide receiver for the Panthers. Former CU safety Shilo Sanders will make his preseason debut on Saturday with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.