Deion Sanders’ quarterback son to debut vs. FAMU in Orange Blossom Classic on Sunday
The Orange Blossom Classic is back in South Florida on Sunday for the first time in four decades, and the story lines surrounding the nationally televised game between Florida A&M and Jackson State should prove as entertaining as the halftime battle of the marching bands.
FAMU’s Rattlers, playing their first game in more than 650 days, will try to spoil the highly anticipated college debut of Shedeur Sanders, Jackson State’s freshman quarterback and son of the Tigers’ coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders.
Shedeur Sanders was the 12th-rated high school quarterback in the nation last season on ESPN’s 300 board. He threw for 3,702 yards and 43 touchdowns as a senior for Trinity Christian School in Cedar Hills, Texas. Over his prep career he amassed 12,498 yards and 166 touchdowns and led his team to 47 wins.
He received more than 25 scholarship offers from Power 5 schools, including Alabama, Florida, Baylor, Louisiana State, Michigan and FSU. He turned them all down and initially committed to Florida Atlantic University to play for former FSU coach Willie Taggart. When his father took the JSU job, he decided to join him.
“I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to help level the playing field and pursue equality for HBCU’s [Historically Black Colleges and Universities],” the younger Sanders wrote on Twitter at the time. “Dad, I got your back.”
Shedeur Sanders will wear No. 2, the same number his dad wore at FSU. Sanders’ older son, Shilo, a defensive back, is also on the team after transferring from South Carolina.
Shedeur said he is not fazed by the pressure of carrying the name of a sports legend.
“I’m built for this moment,” he said at a Friday news conference at Hard Rock Stadium, site of Sunday’s game (3 p.m., ESPN2). “All it takes is to prepare the right way and then there’s no pressure.”
FAMU coach Willie Simmons expects Sanders to be ready for his debut, but also expects his players to be ready to neutralize him.
“He’s a quality football player, smart, accurate, wise beyond his years and being that he comes from that type of pedigree, I don’t think the stage will be too big for him,” Simmons said. “He’s watched his dad play in NFL stadiums his entire life. His dad just said he’s had a chef. [FAMU President] Dr. [Larry] Robinson pays me pretty good, and I don’t have a chef. A young man 18 years old to have a chef, he knows what a big stage is. … But I think he should be more worried about our dark cloud defense than we should be about his first college game.”
Deion Sanders said coaching college football has been more rewarding than he expected, and it is a bonus to be able to coach his sons.
“It’s been wonderful, I’ve coached my kids their entire life, so it’s not new to us,” Sanders said. “When we’re between the lines I’m Coach Prime. Outside of that I’m Dad. They don’t mix the two.”
The game will be a homecoming for 35 South Florida players on the FAMU roster and more than a dozen from Jackson State.
“I live down the road from this stadium, can see it from my house,” said Rattlers offensive lineman and graduate student Keenan Forbes. “It’s a blessing to be in this game. I’ve got 20 or 25 people coming.”
The Classic is a chance for both programs to show area recruits what HBCUs have to offer.
“South Florida has the most talent in the country in one centralized location, so to be able to play a game in their back yard where they can come and watch us, and those who can’t come can watch because it’s nationally televised, is really big,” Simmons said. “We can show high school recruits that coming to Florida A&M will afford you the opportunity to play on prime-time television, to [someday] play professional football and to attend one of the greatest institutions in America.”
Sanders said although FAMU is playing in its home state, that will not necessarily mean a home-field advantage.
“They are in their home state and [Simmons] is going to preach that to them — ‘Do not let them come to your home state and take back a W with them to Mississippi,’ ’’ said Sanders, who wore a fire-engine red JSU blazer to the news conference.
“It’s going to be great because we have 12 to 15 from Florida, too, playing in front of their friends and family. And we have a coach from Florida who’s going to be playing in front of his families and homies, as well. It’s a big homecoming. There’s no competitive advantage because they’re from Florida. We’ve got some Florida boys, too.”
Both coaches stressed the importance of showcasing HBCU teams on national TV and leveling the playing field with traditional football power programs.
“This is a tremendous opportunity, and everything has been nothing but first class,” Sanders said. “For these young men to get on a chartered flight and stay in a four-or-five-star hotel, it’s unbelievable. They are getting a Power 5 experience daily and that’s what they deserve. Why not us? This is the kind of exposure we need to be seen, heard and understood.”
Asked if he expects NFL scouts to attend the game, Sanders replied: “They’d be a fool if they didn’t. The Dolphins are right across the street. They’d be fools if they didn’t walk over. There’s some great talent on both teams.”
Sanders has raised the profile of HBCU football since Jackson State hired him last fall.
“People have known for a long time that HBCUs exist and produce the best and brightest, but Coach Prime has been able, because of his larger-than-life personality and influence, to say some things that traditionally coaches have been hesitant to say — to call out the big networks, the powers that be and say, ‘Hey look, our product deserves to be televised just like everyone else’s,’ ” Simmons said. “We deserve the same opportunities to showcase our fine young men.
“But he’s not the reason we had 19 of 32 NFL teams scouts at our practices. Our players are the reason. I don’t think he’s made HBCU football better. He’s just brought some awareness and make people to take a second look, and I thank him for that. But there have been great coaches in HBCUs for a very, very long time.”
This story was originally published September 3, 2021 at 5:13 PM.