Shedeur Sanders

Shedeur Sanders (born February 7, 2002) is an American football quarterback for the Colorado Buffaloes. He began his college football career with the Jackson State Tigers, winning the Jerry Rice Award and Deacon Jones Trophy before transferring to Colorado in 2023. Sanders is the youngest son of Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback and Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders.

Early life
Sanders was born on February 7, 2002, in Tyler, Texas. He attended Trinity Christian School in Cedar Hill, Texas, where his father, Deion Sanders, was the school's offensive coordinator. As a senior, he completed 251-of-366 pass attempts for 3,702 yards and 43 touchdowns. Sanders was rated a four-star prospect and initially committed to play college football at Florida Atlantic before flipping to Jackson State after his father was named head coach.

Jackson State
Sanders enrolled at Jackson State in January 2021, but was ineligible to play for the team in its spring 2021 season, which was abbreviated and delayed from its normally intended 2020 schedule due to COVID-19. Sanders was named the Tigers' starting quarterback going into the 2021 fall season and passed for 3,231 yards with 30 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He was named the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Freshman of the Year and second team All-SWAC and won the Jerry Rice Award as the most outstanding freshman in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, becoming the first player from a historically black college or university (HBCU) to win the award.

To open his sophomore season, Sanders completed 29 of 33 passes for 323 yards and five touchdowns in the Tigers' 59–3 win over Florida A&M. He completed 70.6% of his pass attempts for 3,732 yards with 40 touchdowns and six interceptions as a sophomore and was named the SWAC Offensive Player of the Year. Sanders was also awarded the Deacon Jones Trophy as the nation's top HBCU player. He entered the NCAA transfer portal after the 2022 Celebration Bowl.

Colorado
Sanders joined his father and transferred to Colorado. He was immediately named the Buffaloes' starting quarterback.

In his first game for the Buffaloes, Sanders completed 38 of 47 pass attempts for a school-record 510 yards and four touchdowns in the team's 45–42 win over 17th-ranked TCU.

Personal life
Sanders' older brother, Shilo, played football at South Carolina before transferring to Jackson State prior to the 2021 season. After graduating from Jackson State in 2023, Shilo transferred to Colorado to join his father and brother.

Sanders signed a name, image, and likeness (NIL) deal with Gatorade in January 2022, becoming the first player from an HBCU to do so. Sanders later signed deals with Beats by Dre and an apparel company founded by former NFL quarterback Tom Brady.