Shedeur Sanders is the star of the college football world today.
He is the talented quarterback of the Colorado Buffaloes and has led them to a surprising 3-1 start — even though they got blown out by Oregon last weekend — when many thought they might not win a game the whole season.
He is also the son of Colorado football coach Deion Sanders. “Neon Deion,” aka “Primetime,” Sanders thrived at Florida State in the late 1980s before starring in the NFL for the Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys. He also played professional baseball for the Atlanta Braves at the same time he played for the Falcons and excelled in both sports.
Coach Sanders has brought tremendous excitement and attention to the previously moribund Colorado program. The Colorado-Colorado State game attracted close to 10 million viewers and was the second-most watched college game this season.
Shedeur is the epitome of the modern athlete in the NIL era. He has a $5 million contract as a 21-year-old junior, which is not too bad considering most college students would be glad with a part-time job at somewhere like, say, a Jimmy John’s sandwich shop.
Both Sanderses were guests on former NFL star quarterback Tom Brady’s podcast last week. Brady is a mentor for the younger Sanders; again, not too bad since Brady won seven Super Bowls and is considered the greatest quarterback in NFL history.
Young Shedeur bought a Rolls Royce with his own NIL money to drive to class and around Boulder, Colorado. Which led to this conversation:
Deion Sanders: “Tom, do you think a college kid needs a Phantom, like a Rolls-Royce?”
Shedeur Sanders: “No, it’s not a Phantom. It’s a Rolls-Royce Cullinan.”
Brady: “I think he needs to get his ass in the film room and spend as much time in there as possible.”
Deion Sanders: “Thank you, Tom! Thank you!”
In recent times, some might consider Brady’s comments to have been racist in some fashion. Others may have labeled Brady’s comments as degrading and rude to the young prodigy which would hurt his feelings and damage his self-esteem somehow.
The only problem was that Shedeur’s father agreed profusely with Brady’s assessment. He could be heard cheering wildly as Brady lectured the young Sanders on what it takes to be great not only at football but at anything in life.
There was no hint of racism or condescension in Brady’s voice nor was any offense taken by the young Sanders. Brady, the GOAT of NFL quarterbacks, was simply trying to convey to the young quarterback what it takes if he indeed wanted to become a truly great quarterback like he had been. Hard work, persistence and delayed gratification of material wealth are all part and parcel of what it takes to be a success in America regardless of race, creed, genetics or socioeconomic background.
No one is going to hand it to anyone just because some political faction thinks it would be the fair, equitable or nice thing to do.
Later that same afternoon, I found myself standing in line at that repository of profound philosophical musings, the aforementioned Jimmy John’s. I saw a list of Rules for Life the founder of Jimmy John’s posted for all the world to see, including every young person who came in to work or get a submarine sandwich:
- Life is not fair — get used to it!
- The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself.
- If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
- Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping. They called it opportunity.
- If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
- Your school may have done away with winners and losers ― but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to anything in real life.
- Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
We are not doing younger generations any favors by coddling them and protecting them from the realities of life like the enlightened uber-left wants us to do. Tom Brady and Jimmy John’s are doing them a valuable service by being honest with them and not lying to them.
We should all do the same thing.
