Shedeur Sanders addressed his father, Deion Sanders’, battle with cancer for the first time on Monday when he spoke with reporters at Browns camp.
Deion, an NFL legend and the current head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes, publicly revealed he had been diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.
The younger Sanders didn’t go too in-depth discussing his father’s health issues, but instead spoke about his mindset of staying focused on his job during Deion’s cancer scare.
“I would say it’s definitely staying focused mentally,” Shedeur said. “Dad, he’s one person that he’ll handle his. We’ll handle what we have to do. It was something that we really didn’t need to have a formal conversation about because [Deion] was like, ‘Y’all need to focus on what y’all need to focus on. Y’all can’t sit here and feel sorry for me.’”
Deion had announced during a University of Colorado press conference last week that he had his bladder removed after he had been diagnosed with cancer.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer said that he was “cured” after undergoing an alternative procedure that removed the bladder and created a new one.
Deion had visited his other son, Shilo, during his first training camp with the Buccaneers, but Shedeur had told his dad not to visit him yet at Browns camp.
Sanders was taken in the fifth round of the draft in the spring after falling from being viewed as one of the top quarterbacks in the draft previously.
He’s currently battling for the starter job with veteran Joe Flacco, rookie Dillon Gabriel and Kenny Pickett, who is currently injured.
Sanders remains the only QB who hasn’t taken reps with the first team.
“I don’t want him coming to see me right now because I want to get to where I want to go, then for him to see me,” Sanders said. “I don’t want him to come and see me get a couple reps, and he is cheering like a good dad. Like, nah, you can’t be proud of me right now. I got to get to where I’m going, and I know it’s a lot I got to do to get there.”
