Back in Boulder, while Colorado fans revved about the Shedeur Sanders–Travis Hunter bond, Shilo also has been the two-way star’s best buddy. The duo was often spotted hanging out together. During one such incident, they were grooving to catchy hits, imitating Deion Sanders from his iconic 1995 stage performance. Shilo and Hunter gifted some more entertainment as they got playfully scorned by Deion. Back in August last year, sharing the funny video, the Buffs HC wrote, “What’s wrong with @db3_tip & @shilosanders? These 2 young men will not be starting the 1st game for obvious reasons. #CoachPrime.” Well, the rest was history.

Before lifting the Heisman, we have seen how Shilo kept pinning high hopes on Hunter. “Nobody really does that [discredit his campaign], honestly. Like, I’ve never heard anybody until you just said it. Travis is the guy. Who else would be the Heisman?” Shilo had told On3 last November.  However, the duo fell prey to the clutches of time. Shilo now plays for Tampa Bay while Hunter is at Jacksonville. Even though the safety carries love for Hunter in his heart, here came a snub for the ex-Buffs dual-threat. 

Shilo is now busy polishing his skills before hitting the gridiron for the first time in the NFL. He has to whitewash his image. Deion’s son went undrafted in the 2025 NFL Draft. That’s because he had concerns about his consistency, injury history, and age for a rookie. On July 16, Shilo posted a clip from his training camp on his YouTube channel. Decked up in all red, the ex-Buffs safety is spotted training with a coach, who wanted to learn more about his Colorado journey. 

“Who was the hardest receiver you had to guard at Colorado besides Travis Hunter?” asked the coach. That’s when Shilo dropped a bomb. “Travis, easy. I’m just playing. Me and Travis only do one-on- ones like once maybe. We never really went against each other like that. Yeah. But I would say nobody, bro. Nobody was hardware.”

The coach pushed further to learn about that one Buff who pushed Shilo to be better, “Not hard work, but who had like the wiggles on?” “No, no, no, no. Say I do one-on- ones. I always want to go against LaJohntay [Wester] cause if you can guard LaJohntay, you can guard anyone,” shared Shilo. In his one and only season at Colorado, LaJohntay Wester played in all 13 games and started 12. He ended the season with 74 receptions for 931 yards and 10 touchdowns on offense. Even though Shilo did not name Hunter, Wester had only good things to say about Hunter.

“He’s one of a kind. He do a lot of things that are unnatural. I think being around great players, you want to be great as well. You never want to have another man have a one-up on you. If Travis do something crazy, I’m coming back and got to top it,” Wester told the media last April. For Shilo, on the other hand, he has now buckled up. After all, he got to impress ‘Papa Prime’, who will be visiting Tampa soon. 

Shilo Sanders to get perfect motivation before his Tampa Bay debut

The ground is all hot for Shilo. With Antoine Winfield Jr. locked in as Tampa Bay’s Pro Bowl-caliber free safety, the real competition this summer is for the strong safety role. Shilo ticks off all the boxes: physical, box-heavy role built on toughness, tackling, and instincts in short-area coverage. However, that did not guarantee him anything. After all, Shilo isn’t the only new face competing for that spot. Buccaneers are moving defensive back Tykee Smith, the former Georgia star, from slot corner to safety.

Tampa Bay leans heavily on versatility in its safeties. If Shilo wants to earn the role, he has to play more downhill, take the running game seriously, and cover tight ends in man concepts. And all this while, Smith will be at his throat, which calls for comparison. Smith posted strong run-defense metrics. However, when targeted from the slot, he was limited and allowed a passer rating over 90.0 in 2023. Shilo, on the other hand, recorded a coverage grade of 76.4 last season and allowed just 0.72 yards per coverage snap within 10 yards of the line of the scrimmage. While Shilo fights for his spot, his excitement must be hitting the roof.

Deion Sanders promised, “I’m gonna try my best to rent a plane to come down and see you (Shilo) and then go see Shedeur then go to work.” Now, what better motivation for Shilo Sanders? The fact that Deion is still giving the Sanders brothers the priority as the off-season is almost over, it’s time for Shilo to make Coach Prime proud. Is the NFL where he writes his true breakout story?