Jimmy Horn Jr., the receiver Shedeur Sanders has called his brother since their Colorado days, is out of a job. The Carolina Panthers waived him Tuesday, just days after a costly special-teams mistake against the Chicago Bears. Deion Sanders wasn’t staying quiet about it.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“I made some calls to him, immediately,” Coach Prime said in an interview on Wednesday.
“I love Jimmy,” Sanders added. “Jimmy’s a great, great kid. I don’t understand, and I hate questioning management because I’m not there, but this kid is a great human being. Okay, he dropped the punt. Okay, I get it. I understand. But if you just wanted to get rid of him, it wasn’t about character.”
The Panthers cut him Tuesday, days after their brutal 59-37 loss to the Bears in Week 1. Horn had been Carolina’s guy for kickoff and punt returns, and against Chicago he muffed a second-quarter punt that turned into an easy field goal for the Bears. The scores were tied before the blunder, and Carolina was still in the fight. It was one of the many things that went wrong for the Panthers.
Jimmy Horn Jr. was drafted as the 208th overall pick in the 2025 draft by the Panthers. He was a speedy wide receiver and tallied 11 catches for 108 yards as a rookie.
Deion Sanders coached Horn at Colorado, and their bond runs deeper than football. The Buffaloes head coach had promised Horn’s father, who was in prison at the time, that he’d look after his son, and he meant it. He grew into being a father figure for the young wideout, and even walked with him on Senior Day. Sanders had also called him his “favorite” son.
So when the news of the cut hit, Sanders didn’t hold back.
That closeness runs both ways. Horn has kept checking in on Sanders even after their college days, especially since Sanders revealed his bladder cancer diagnosis.
“I text him like every other week,” Horn said last year. “I love coach, just to check in with him. It might not be too long of a convo, but it’s just a little small check-up, you know, that could mean a lot to him and me.”
Shedeur Sanders feels the absence too. Talking to ESPN last year, he admitted the locker room isn’t the same without Horn around.
“Jimmy definitely is missed. A lot of the Colorado players are missed. All of them have different personalities. And Jimmy, I miss seeing his smile when we’re at practice with his gold grillz.”
While Sanders has nothing but praise for him, Jimmy Horn Jr.’s NFL future is now up in the air. He has cleared waivers and is now a free agent, and hopefully, another team will want to give him a second chance.
The Panthers have signed linebacker Tyrel Dodson from the practice squad. However, the WR room is now left with only five players on the active roster. Will that be enough for the Panthers?