Shilo Sanders surely would have gotten his on-field skills from his father. But talk about his off-the-field persona? He always follows the blueprint instilled by his mother from a young age. Through every move, every transfer, setback, and triumph, Pilar has been on her son’s side. That’s how mothers are, right? Now, the 25-year-old is reciprocating that love publicly to his mother, something he hasn’t done very often.

Shilo appeared in a recent interview and was asked about the impact his mom had on him. Emotions were clearly visible on Shilo’s face as he outlined his mother’s role.”That’s a great question, and I need to send her this video that you asked that, because she says nobody asks her. So that’s good. But she had a great impact. My dad is more into sports. You know, we got some good genetics from my mom. Also, that’s why I’m heading a CEO. As Shedeur is trying to trick everybody when he runs. But just everything off the field was my mom,” said Shilo.

The motivating messages from the mother of 3 have continued even on social media. For instance, last year in September, Shilo got criticism for missing tackles against Kansas State. However, his mother defended him.

She posted a highlight reel of seven solo tackles on her X account. “Yep, keep that same energy! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽💯💯💯💯” wrote Pilar. Even when Shilo’s first NFL game jersey was rejected by Deion Sanders. Pilar happily accepted it and became emotional, too, after doing that. But that’s not all.

This year, in January 2025, Shilo released an album, Hate 2 Love, which was written, produced, and performed by the former Buffs safety. Pilar took no time to share it on her Instagram and constantly hyped it up using her following. “This tops My new Playlist 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 #hate2love #ufo #bigshilo #shilosanders 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 #proudmom #musicmom.”

That singing, acting, and directing talent didn’t come automatically for Shilo. The former Buffs safety outlined how his mother played a key role in developing his persona.

Shilo Sanders credits his mother for his creative personality

Pilar and Deion Sanders were once a high-profile couple. But the duo got separated in an ugly and public divorce, and Pilar had limited custody. Despite that, even in that phase, she maintained her influence on Shilo and other kids with her visitations and artistic flair. This was also the time when Pilar pushed Shilo to find his calling beyond football if he wanted to. Sending him to piano lessons was just one thing he outlined that his mother did.

“Everything off the field was like music, acting, modeling, you know, even doing the streams. So she’d been telling me the streams since I was like 15 years old. And she bought my first keyboard. When I was younger, she forced me, Shedeur, and Shelomi to get into piano lessons. I’m like, I don’t want to do piano lessons,” said Shilo. Despite Shilo’s reluctance as a kid to take piano lessons, it helped him massively. Shilo outlined how sometimes the piano lessons even hindered his football practices.

But despite that, he acknowledged that “without that I wouldn’t be who I am.” It surely shows the role Pilar played. She gave her sons that unique swagger they still sport and made them believe in their ability, not just football. Coming from an artistic background rooted in modeling, acting, and broader creative roles, she knew how her children could use it as an outlet.

It’s like how Shilo outlined. “(I am) Just outside the box thinker, and 2, not just focus on one thing, to just have a lot of interest and a lot of different things. So that’s all that’s from her,” concluded Shilo.