Shedeur Sanders is at Colorado and in the Big XII now, but he hasn’t forgotten his time in the HBCU ranks – nor is he going to let anyone else.
The rising senior quarterback was asked about the high expectations of Colorado football at his first ever Big XII Media Day on Wednesday.
“It’s been that since day one,” Sanders told reporters. “I remember first media day at HBCU I said we won’t lose a game. I’m undefeated in the SWAC. I already know what the expectation comes with – I know we’re everybody’s Super Bowl. So I’m really just staying level-headed, stay grounded, because – I would never wanna be that guy to look back and not being able to take advantage of the moment that we have right now.”
Indeed, Shedeur Sanders has been ‘standing on business’ since he showed up at SWAC Media Day in Birmingham in July 2021. In an interview with HBCU Gameday’s Tolly Carr, Sanders laid out his expectations for that season and his time at Jackson State.
“It equates to a blowout,” he said. “You gotta understand – y’all don’t really understand. It’s players that have a different caliber of talent that all came to JSU. So it’s like when you compare us to a regular SWAC team, a different SWAC team, the best – we didn’t come here because we had to. We came here because we chose to. It’s a difference.”
His commentary seemed brash at that time given he had never played a college football game, but it didn’t take long for him to earn his respect on the field.
Starting from Day One, Shedeur Sanders led Jackson State to a perfect 10-0 record in the SWAC as a freshman, leading the team to a SWAC title and a Celebration Bowl appearance.
After that, Sanders was a part of a Jackson State program that went 12-1 in 2022. It won a second-straight SWAC title and made it back to the Celebration Bowl once again, falling in an overtime thriller to MEAC champion North Carolina Central. Sanders threw for 3,720 yards and 40 touchdowns with just six interceptions while leading JSU to a 12-1 record. Sanders completed over 70 percent of his passes en route to being named the SWAC Offensive Player of the Year and repeating as HBCU Gameday/Protect Your Skull FCS Offensive Player of The Year.
Now he’s looking to prove the doubters wrong as Colorado moves into the Big XII and he prepares to make a run at the top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.