Dawgs By Nature
Some college football players enter the NFL with a large fan base.
Peyton Manning was one of these. If you asked Tennessee football fans who their favorite NFL team is, their answer would be the Indianapolis Colts, and then later the Denver Broncos. They followed their favorite son. But his brother Eli did not garner this same attention from Ole Miss fans.
Virginia Tech fans were Atlanta Falcons enthusiasts because of Michael Vick. Every Florida fan became obsessed with the Broncos when Tim Tebow was drafted in the first round. That became their NFL team.
That doesn’t always happen. Cam Newton won the Heisman Trophy and just about every other offensive award, plus captured a National Championship for Auburn, yet outside of the city limits, few Auburn alums wore Carolina Panthers gear, nor followed him to the New England Patriots. Anything Cam-related in Auburn – sure. Outside of that, the interest waned.
Cleveland Browns QB Shedeur Sanders has that excited fan appeal and following. And it isn’t just from Colorado alumni. It is from just fans of him, and perhaps, his father. Whatever the source, they love Shedeur and are following his every move with Cleveland.
Deion Sanders was an incredible cornerback. He baited a ton of quarterbacks by playing off receivers that made them appear open. As soon as the ball was released on the throw, Deion’s closing speed kicked into another gear, and instead of the play being a huge gain, it was an interception for the opponent. Deion was a first ballot Hall of Fame candidate.
He became a cultural icon in that he trash-talked and completely backed it up. Now, being a D-1 head coach, people want to watch his team. That is why Colorado will have an afternoon primetime game on FOX against Delaware despite neither team being ranked.
Now comes one of his sons, who plays quarterback, the most important position on the football field. Fans from the University of Colorado love him because he arrived from Jackson State to play for them. But that is a natural occurrence. Of course, they love him and wish him well at the next level. This year, you will see Browns #12 jerseys in the stands at Colorado games.
Are his followers a bit unhealthy (fan is short for fanatic)? Is he a budding superstar or an eventual flop? Right now, Cleveland’s coaching staff doesn’t know. He was like a roller coaster in preseason games, playing well against second-team defenders in the Panthers contest, and looking pretty bad in the Los Angeles Rams exhibition game versus third-team guys who are mostly now unemployed.
However, the coaching staff only uses these game tapes as part of the evaluation for Shedeur. They don’t base all of their attention on these two games, but use all the practice sessions as part of their inherent information on the player.
During final training camp cuts, the coaching staff kept Shedeur on the roster, then named him their QB3. They don’t keep guys...
