BOULDER, Colo. — Shedeur Sanders emerged from the tunnel for his pregame routine. Black sunglasses covered his eyes. Beats by Dre covered his ears. Nothing covered his arms. Ice covered his wrist.
As has become tradition, he stopped at the Colorado student section, the only part of Folsom Field already packed.
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Colorado’s star quarterback stood on the sidelines, close enough to the field so the whole section could see him. His head nodded slightly to whatever beat he was hearing. He stared into the sea of white shirts and soaked in the cheers of the Buffaloes faithful. Then, matter of factly, he raised his left fist to flaunt that ice — his Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 15500 watch with 30 carats of VVS diamonds. The roar of the fans escalated.
Sanders then calmly stepped down and jogged off. The “2” medallion dangling from his diamond-encrusted Cuban link necklace bounced off his chest as he ran. He didn’t say a word. His expression didn’t change. Because for Shedeur, to borrow from rapper David Banner, stuntin’ is a habit. Put it in the air.
But the thing about Sanders the quarterback is he’s proving to have substance to pair with his flamboyance. His talent, his toughness, his intelligence are making his flair feel more and more appropriate.
Saturday against No. 8 USC, he arguably outplayed reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams, especially when you consider their respective contexts. Sanders — both Shedeur and Deion, his father and the Colorado head coach — drew criticism for saying Shedeur isn’t No. 2 to Williams, the presumed top pick of next year’s NFL Draft. But it didn’t look so crazy a statement when they shared the stage.
“I feel like my stage is my stage,” the Buffs QB said. “He’s a great player, but it’s not, ‘Oh, I’m on his stage,’ or anything like that. We’ve got attention. We’ve got everything we need. I’m comfortable with everything I’m doing.”
Williams got the win, 48-41, and looked elite as USC built its big lead. For anyone who hadn’t followed much of Williams, he made a few plays that explained the hype. And 406 yards with six touchdowns speaks for itself.
But a case could be made the most impressive quarterback on the field was Sanders. Because he didn’t have an offensive line that could adequately protect him. He didn’t have his full contingent of playmakers — with Travis Hunter missing his second consecutive game and Xavier Weaver playing hobbled. Though Colorado ran it much better overall, he didn’t have the explosive running game USC boasts with MarShawn Lloyd.
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But Shedeur had something for the visiting Trojans. One week after getting their hope hijacked by Oregon, the Buffaloes found the resolve to get back in the game against USC. Sanders threw for 371 yards and four touchdowns and ran for another. He completed two-thirds of his passes, which for him is an off day. But Sanders was a gamer Saturday. He was a general of a wounded crew that had to find another level.
The play that defined Colorado’s resilience came on fourth-and-5 early in the fourth quarter — a play Colorado, down 48-27 at the time, had to have. Sanders scrambled to his right and zipped a laser of a pass on the move. The arm talent he displayed is best captured in replay, because live it happened too fast.
It was a 22-yard rope to a blanketed receiver who was running along the end zone. Sanders zipped past charging linebacker Mason Cobb and somehow missed the outstretched hand of Trojans safety Bryson Shaw — whose coverage was good enough to partially obstruct the view of freshman receiver Omarion Miller. The placement was so perfect on the pass, it hit Miller right in the hands as he was falling backwards in the middle of the end zone.
This view of that Shedeur Sanders pass to Omarion Miller 🎯🔥@CUBuffsFootball pic.twitter.com/2RhliNyoNr
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 30, 2023
And it’s not just $70,000 watches he regards as normal. The best throw of the game, perhaps of his season, the kind of throw that projects on Sundays, he explained away with the same expressionless expectation with which he flexed his watch. A disposition designed to declare “this is what I do.”
His father seconded.
“I have an expectation for him,” Sanders the coach said. “And I’ve been seeing this. He’s been built and reared for this his whole life. … The kid has always won. He has always been dominant. He has always been smart and intelligent and concise. He’s always been a competitor. He’s always lifted the level of competition. He’s always given us a chance to succeed at every level. So I could go on and on, but I don’t want to sound like the dad. I’m just really speaking to you as a coach. I try my best not to speak to you as the father. But the kid can play.”
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Shedeur’s combination of talent and taste, of intangibles and impudence, makes it feel possible that we’ve got another Neon Deion on our hands. If you’re from that era, you know such a prospect is tantalizing. If you’re not from that era, look no further than the massive popularity of the elder Sanders who has resurrected Colorado football. It’s all founded on the way he excelled as a player and the extravagance he exuded as a star.
He was Prime Time because of his showmanship. The way he talked before he walked only made the strut that much more impressive. He never shied away from declaring his greatness. He refused to matte his crown when the bling hurt some people’s eyes.
Fans prefer humility but can’t get enough of arrogance. It compounds success and sweetens failures. It’s an audacious and risky way to exist in sports, which relentlessly searches out heroes and goats.
But Shedeur has his daddy’s audacity. He’s been bequeathed the boldness of self-certainty. He inherited his pop’s natural ability to capture attention, and his appetite for luxury.
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The “it” factor is strong with Shedeur. He’s got a beaming smile, the symbol of his charm. He seems to innately know how to work a room, how to juggle braggadocio and simplicity, how to dodge and how to demand.
Like when reporters kept messing up Omarion Miller’s name.
“Oh-MAR-ion,” he said, his second correction after hearing his receiver’s name pronounced oh-MERRY-on. He then made an announcement.
“Everybody. This my man, Omarion. He went for a lot of yards today. I know he a freshman and y’all ain’t seen him much. But …”
He did it with that smile. The one that’s already bringing in nearly $4 million in NIL money this season, the highest in college football.
It’s wild to even imagine him being anywhere as good as his father, an NFL Hall of Famer who might even be underrated as an all-time athlete. But he doesn’t need to be as great as his father. He just has to be good enough to be worthy of the footsteps. He’s already a quarterback, so he won’t have to work as hard to drum up interest like his cornerback dad. He’s already coming up in an age of social media, where branding is like breathing. And he’s already got the blueprint and a wealth of resources from a connected father.
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But here’s the thing. Shedeur is good. Like, really good. Like, can-be-good-on-Sundays good.
He has the arm talent. He has the IQ. He’s getting more and more experience against top opponents. He’s proving to be just fine with the pressure and attention. His name, culled from the Book of Numbers in the Bible, means “light of the Almighty.” He was born to shine.
And like his father, he puts in a ton of work behind the scenes, which tends to get lost in the hoopla but is always evident in the production.
“Let’s be clear, we’re talking about one of the greatest athletes ever,” said Bay Area rapper Symba, who recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of his hit album “Results Take Time.”
“We’re talking about somebody who was high-stepping from the 50-yard line to the touchdown in the 90s. So you think his kid ain’t gon’ do it? Anything he puts his hands on is gold. Ain’t this many Black people coming to Boulder, Colorado, just to come. We here for Prime, and he ain’t gon’ have us here for no reason. So one thousand percent. I’m not surprised at Shedeur. I’m not surprised at Shilo (Sanders’ brother and a Buffaloes safety). I’m not surprised at none of this because anything Prime touches is gold. And that’s why we’re here. To win.”
It’s the fourth quarter and the Buffaloes sidelines are lit again.
Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce, who was one of the first celebrities to grace the field before the 10 a.m. local kickoff, emerged from the tunnel with current Celtics star Jaylen Brown behind him.
Shortly after, Lecrae, the renowned Christian rapper, emerged from the tunnel with a bag of Buffaloes gear. And he had taken off the black Colorado hoodie he wore most of the game and replaced it with a black No. 2 jersey of Shedeur.
The coach is the big draw, why the Colorado sidelines felt like the NBA Finals. His juice draws them. But it’s the QB who keeps them engaged while they’re there. He’s the one they see as the heir, the prince of panache.
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Saturday was an exhibit of why he’s worthy of such anointing. He showed leadership. He should competitive spirit. He showed toughness. How Colorado responded made their second consecutive loss easier to swallow. It changed, or preserved, the positive tenor of their season.
Imagine if USC had put away the Buffs as the Ducks did last Saturday. How would they handle getting embarrassed in consecutive weeks, watching all their hype invalidated and enduring another week of national ridicule?
Colorado saved face by coming back, and they did it with Shedeur.
Trailing 34-7, something in Sanders seemed to click. He ran for a 25-yard touchdown run just before halftime. Shedeur did this while nursing a ginger ankle and swollen shin, and while behind an offensive line that again had him running for his life.
In the third quarter, Colorado answered every USC score. Staying close enough to keep the visitors honest. Even how that came about was a product of cultivation behind the scenes. Sanders manifested a star in Miller, who didn’t get consistent snaps until the second half. A third-quarter, 65-yard catch-and-run by Miller seemed to ignite the spark the Buffaloes had been waiting to see in him.
The next series, Sanders threw a bomb to Miller, the kind of trust-the-receiver throw he normally reserves for Hunter. Miller came down with it. Suddenly, the two were locked in. Sanders the coach said Miller hadn’t been practicing well and didn’t expect such production.
“I’ve been telling him,” Shedeur said. “I said, ‘Bro, I need you to step up. … You could be a big part of the offense, or you could just have a freshman year and just wait. It’s up to you.’ I’m glad he finally came in understanding who he is as a player.”
Actor Da’Vinchi, known for his roles in the TV shows “BMF” and “All American” was too far from the action to see the opposite end zone. So he and the two people with him watched intently on the scoreboard. They groaned when the Buffaloes handed off the ball. They clearly wanted to see Shedeur.
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And when he rifled a pass to Jimmy Horn Jr. late in the fourth quarter to put Colorado within a touchdown, Da’Vinchi spun around to his boy with widened eyes punctuating his excitement.
It was too little, too late. A failed onside kick ended the Buffaloes’ upset bid. But it was the kind of performance that added to his legitimacy as a future pro. If he turns out to be the truth, like his father keeps saying, it’s going to be quite the ride.
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(Top photo: John Leyba / USA Today)