Since Shedeur Sanders burst into the college football scene, there have been times when he hasn’t received due credit. After all, as his Hall-of-Famer father put it, “He’s always been that kid that was my son. So he never got the respect or the credit of his work because ‘that’s just Prime’s son.’ He has consistently worked his b–t off to prove everybody wrong.” And more often than not, the quarterback has borne the brunt of the scrutiny that the Buffaloes have been under since Deion Sanders took over. Remember what happened after their September game against Colorado State?

Coming into this season, the Rams’ quarterback, Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, talked about the long-standing rivalry between the two Colorado programs. In their 2023 encounter, Deion Sanders’ side came out on top after two overtime periods (43-35). “They came out with that attitude and thought it was going to be a cakewalk,” Fowler-Nicolosi said. “I think it goes to show the media train only gets you so far. At the end of the day, you have to line up 11 guys against our 11 guys and we’ll find out who wants it more. We’ll see how far Instagram followers gets them.” This didn’t sit right with Shedeur.

So, after their Week 3 matchup – that, incidentally, was a cakewalk for the Buffs (28-9) – Sanders refused to shake hands with Fowler-Nicolosi at the 50-yard line. But he did address his Rams counterpart’s pre-season comments. “You were talking that s–t on Instagram,” Sanders reportedly said. What’s interesting is that Shedeur was the one being portrayed as the bad guy for standing up for his team. His response? “I said something because I’m just human. But of course, the media tried to portray it like I did something wrong. But that’s just how it is… We don’t even get affected by it anymore.” Well, it looks like his mother has had enough of his uncalled-for hate.

Since joining the Buffaloes in 2023, Shedeur Sanders has proved why he is one of the best – if not the best- quarterbacks in CFB. His peers concur with this, and his adversaries concur with this. So do the powers tasked with conferring the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. Friday evening, Shedeur became the latest recipient of the accolade, awarded to the best upperclassman quarterback across the CFB sphere. An athlete of this ilk, boasting his eminence, is never short of supporters. Shedeur’s biggest one, however, remains perhaps his very first.

Pilar Sanders isn’t one to back down against any perceived animosity for her public-facing children. These maternal instincts surfaced in the aftermath of Shedeur’s Golden Arm bestowal. She posted a congratulatory message on Instagram for Shedeur, writing, “YES SON!! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 LEGENDARY.” In the comments, a fan wrote, “Congratulations 🍾 to your son @shedeursanders, but there needs to be some public apologies from analysts and sports pundits. 

“One award doesn’t erase the hate and lack of respect @shedeursaders @shilosanders and coach @deionsanders received upon transferring from Jackson State. Yes, when you are in high-profile sports, you are open to criticism. But when it’s proven wrong, there has to be more than an award.” Pilar responded to this comment with full adherence. “There needs to be a plethora of apologies hailing from a helluvah lotta people including – media , horrible reporters, worse writers ( not true journalists) refs, players, coaches etc,” said Pilar. While these subliminal shots do not mention names, her stance is resoundingly clear. It’s safe to say Pilar has been keeping receipts, which may well be encashed at a later date – Draft night, maybe?

Speaking of Draft night, could the Raiders be Shedeur Sanders’ new home in 2025? Well, the Colorado quarterback was in Las Vegas on Friday, and while passing Allegiant Stadium, he shot a video of it and posted it on his Instagram story. The caption? “Legendary.” Be that as it may, did you know there’s a chance certain NFL teams will pass up on the quarterback just because they don’t have the best relationship with Deion Sanders? Well, that’s what Shedeur told Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

When the soccer legend made an appearance on Shedeur’s podcast, he asked him what his preferred landing spot was in the big leagues. The signal-caller replied, “Nah, I can’t say it, but it’s a couple of teams, for sure. There’s a couple of teams I’ll fit [in with, considering] the situation and everything. You gotta understand that there’s a couple of teams that don’t like the personality, that don’t like dad, and everything like that. So, it is what it is.” That said, the 22-year-old isn’t losing any sleep over it. Right now, he’s just focused on performing on the field, as he expressed in his acceptance speech.

After being awarded the 2024 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award at the Four Seasons Hotel in Baltimore, he said, “I just want to thank God for this opportunity… I am very excited [about] being recognized as the best quarterback in college football. This award not only represents me but it represents the receiver room and the whole offense. It just takes a lot of unselfish players on one team, no matter what, to get the job done. I’m just very excited and can’t even explain how I feel right now because everything’s coming true. Everything is real. I’m just excited for everything.”

Even the Buffaloes’ Instagram account honored their quarterback, sharing pictures from the ceremony and writing, “Boulder, Shedeur is bringing the 🏆 home.” Shedeur Sanders’ Golden Arm award was preceded by another major honor. He was named the Big 12 Offensive POTY. For a player who was lined up under center at Jackson State less than 2 years ago, this is some traversal. However, there is still one thing that he yearns which has eluded him through his escapades.

Shedeur Sanders remains absent from the most prominent discourse around CFB

Rather, partisan allegations of nepotism were thrown Shedeur Sanders’ way when he stepped into his disposition in Boulder. A flailing yet substantial Colorado Buffaloes program was deemed a little beyond what he merited. A couple of years on, those allegations have been convincingly thwarted. Yet, he is nowhere near the conversation for the Heisman trophy. Even the odds-on favorite to win the award, Travis Hunter, is bemused by this.

Shedeur’s won over both the eye-test and analytics factions around the country. An athletic specimen with his best attribute being his accuracy, he’s been a revelation. Shedeur is no.1 in the country in completion rate, 2nd in TDs thrown, 3rd in yardage through the air, and 5th in QB rating. To put that into perspective and reinforce his case for the Heisman, no other quarterback is even in the top 10 of all four of those categories.

In a year where a unicorn playing both sides of the ball and a battering ram from running back approaching history lead the conversation, perhaps Shedeur’s case for winning is difficult to justify. However, he’s still that guy- no matter what the naysayers conjure against him. His mom, Pilar, would not let that truth dissipate under her watch.