Shedeur Sanders explains why he doesn't want his dad Deion attending Browns training camp

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a day ago

NFL teams across the country are in the full swing of training camp as the offseason calendar hits August. The Cleveland Browns are one of the more intriguing teams in the AFC with plenty of questions ahead of Week 1, most notably at quarterback.
It's an open competition between veterans Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco, as well as rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
Sanders was one of the biggest stories in the 2025 NFL Draft due to his slide from expected first-round pick to the top of the fifth round. He's missed some time in training camp due to soreness in his throwing arm but was back on the field on Aug. 4.
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He was asked whether his father, Pro Football Hall of Fame player and current Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders, would visit Browns training camp anytime soon.
Sanders was very clear: no.
"I don't want him coming to see me right now because I want to, I want to get to where I want to go then for him to see me," he explained. "I don't want him to see me get a couple of reps and he's cheering like a good dad. Like no, you can't be proud of me right now. I got to get to where I'm going and I know there's a lot I got to do to get there."
I just want everything that I'm doing is just focused on this time and I don't want no distractions because we know how the media, we know how everybody would take it and would take away from the team just from him being my own dad showing up. It's a gift and a curse at the same time."
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That echoes what Deion told fellow Hall of Famer Michael Irvin during an interview posted to Irvin's YouTube channel.
'He's like, 'Dad, I may get three or four reps of practice. I don't want you seeing that. Come on. No, I'm not where I need to be. Let me get where I need to be,' Deion said.
Training camp has been an open competition between Pickett, Flacco, Gabriel and Sanders. With Pickett and Sanders out for hamstring and shoulder soreness, respectively, Flacco has looked like the top player at the position. The latest 53-man roster projection from the Akron Beacon Journal states, "This is Flacco's job to lose. Period."
There's still time for Sanders to change that now that he's back in action following shoulder soreness. But it'll likely take some time before Deion makes a trip up to Berea, Ohio for Browns training camp.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shedeur Sanders explains why he doesn't want Deion at Browns camp