As Shilo Sanders watched his brother, Shedeur’s draft stock tank, he made an early call to fire his father, Deion Sanders, as his agent. Shedeur did no such thing, though, and let Coach Prime guide him through the pre-draft meetings. But on draft day, that decision came back to bite them when Shedeur was left waiting until the 144th spot before the Cleveland Browns came calling. NFL analyst Colin Cowherd remembers all of that, and he’s not letting Deion get off easy.

“You know what also did him (Shedeur) a disservice? His dad, Deion Sanders. Here’s what we know. [Deion’s] a great all-time NFL player, a pretty good major baseball player, a so-so head coach, and a terrible agent,” Cowherd said on his YouTube channel. “During Super Bowl week, he cut it up with a lot of hosts, and the overwhelming sentiment was, ‘I don’t want my kids playing for some of these lousy teams.’ The problem, of course, is that the lousy teams are the ones that need a quarterback.”

In the Super Bowl LIX week, Deion Sanders appeared on the Dan Patrick Show and said he wouldn’t want Shedeur to play for certain teams. Deion revealed he “would meet with them behind closed doors” to discuss his concerns so the teams could move on. The Colorado Buffaloes HC admitted he had a list, and that list cost his son his draft spot.

For context, Shedeur’s Top-30 visits weren’t that great either. In his meeting with the New York Giants, former head coach Brian Daboll gave Sanders an installation package to identify the mistakes in it. Sanders was unprepared and got called out on it. The Giants flagged his attitude and moved on to Jaxson Dart in the draft while Sanders waited.

Last September, it was also reported that the Philadelphia Eagles and the Baltimore Ravens had Shedeur on their draft board, but Sanders didn’t want to be a backup quarterback, so he passed on those. Cowherd called it “insane” and pointed out that many of the great quarterbacks started their careers on the bench: Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, and so on.

“I think Deion at the Super Bowl was glib and funny and entertaining, but I think he alienated people. And I think Shedeur can play. It’s a hill I’m going to die on,” Cowherd said.

“I think he was underdrafted,” Cowherd continued. “And listen, sometimes you miss. Brock Purdy, seventh round, Brock can play. Do I think Brock has a great trait, size? No. And I don’t think Shedeur does either. But I will tell you, [general manager] Andrew Berry is really sharp, and they may not have wanted to draft him because of some of the pre-draft stuff. You guys, he can play.”

As for that draft tank, during an interview with GBush on The Barbershop podcast this May, Deion admitted that he’d failed.

“That was the first time in my life that I couldn’t fix it,” Deion said. “I’ve always been able to fix it with all my kids. But as that bull junk was going on and everyone was… I couldn’t fix it. And [Shedeur] wanted me to fix it. I didn’t have the power to fix it, and that hurt. Because I felt like I wasn’t there for my son. Why didn’t we have an agent? Well, you’re projected to go what, first or second, right?”

But Deion hasn’t given up supporting his son. In an exclusive interview with ClutchPoints, he noted that the pressure Shedeur has faced since his draft tank is nothing new, and he can still perform at a high level.

“He’s gonna face haters like he’s always had,” Deion said. “He’s not gonna face anything new that he hasn’t faced in the entirety of his life. He’s always been up against the eight ball. He’s always been really undervalued, not really appreciated like he should, and he always comes through. He likes it when odds are stacked up against him.”

Sanders got his NFL debut in Week 11 after Dillon Gabriel got injured. He hadn’t taken a single first-team rep up until that point, and the team was unfamiliar with his cadence. He still managed to carve out 3 wins in 7 starts, even with a porous O-line, landing 23 sacks on the young quarterback.

Back in September, Cowherd had called Shedeur an “after-school special” without any “Prime Time talent.” But now he has pulled a full reversal on that stance. He’s pointing to the O-line for mistakes, and making the case for how production Sanders actually was when he got his chance.

“I’ll throw this out there for the doubters,” Cowherd said. “Shedeur started the final seven games last year for Cleveland, and their offensive line was putrid. It was ranked 31st. He had more touchdown passes in that stretch than Josh Allen. … He had as many total touchdowns behind that putrid O-line as [Sam] Darnold, [Justin] Herbert, and Jordan Love. So you can tell me what you want to hear. I’m going to give you numbers. He was productive, mobile enough, big enough, accurate enough, and had a good eye for the deep ball.”

This offseason, Shedeur Sanders has impressed at the OTAs as well as the mandatory minicamps. He will be splitting first-team reps with veteran quarterback Deshaun Watson in training camp, and Sanders has a real shot at being the QB1. Deion Sanders still thinks his son’s undervalued; he still thinks the odds were stacked. And after everything he did to make that happen, maybe he’s right.