DENVER – After Shedeur Sanders, playing defensive back, picked off a pass intended for a young receiver on Monday night, that young player couldn’t help but respect the effort.
“Keep bringing that same energy!” the youth repeatedly said to Sanders.
The starting quarterback for the Colorado Buffaloes, Sanders took some time away from Boulder to give back to the football community. Teaming up with Gatorade, Sanders surprised members of the N.E.D Falcons youth organization with about $45,000 worth of new equipment for the football and cheerleading programs. The equipment will support more than 200 athletes in the club.
“Sometimes as a college athlete you forget the impact you have on kids,” Sanders said at the practice, held at Fred Thomas Park. “I was a kid and I remember looking up to Justin Fields and just talking to him here or there. That’s still my favorite player. So just coming out here and even the kids just recognizing me, that means a lot to me.”
Sanders signed an endorsement deal with Gatorade more than 18 months ago but said he had never done an event like this before Monday.
“I was just so locked in and focused about getting my foundation, which is establishing who I was as a player,” he said. “Now I’ve got a good idea of what it takes and just having real game experience. So, I know what I’m able to do off the field. So I’ve been talking to my dad about it just in general; I want to give back to the kids. We talked to a brand and we were finally able to do that.”
Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders works with a young player during practice for the N.E.D Falcons Youth Organization in Denver on Monday, July 24, 2023. (Brian Howell/BuffZone)
The equipment donated will benefit the Falcons organization and Sanders knows it will make a big impact on the coaches.
“The kids don’t really understand, you know; probably the 13 year-olds know, but they don’t really have a good understanding of it yet,” Sanders said of the impact of the donation. “I feel like the coaches, really, it hits home for them because they understand how hard it is to get out of here and just make that type of stuff. And the fact they sacrifice their time and their effort and everything into this because my dad had his own program, Truth, and if it wasn’t for the man he was and what he was able to do, I feel like that’s what helped it be successful.”
Sanders is believed to be one of the highest-earning college athletes in the country when it comes to NIL (name, image and likeness) endorsements. He’s certainly benefited financially, but the NCAA allowing NIL opportunities made Monday’s event possible.
“It’s positive because I feel like you don’t have to wait until you get to the (NFL) to do something like this,” he said. “Now you’re able to do it in college. So I feel like that’s what’s positive about NIL.”
Another positive was interacting with the youth. After announcing the donation, Sanders spent some time running drills and playing with the kids during their practice.
“I’m about to go out there and go through a couple of drills with them,” Sanders said. “This kid over here has been talking to me crazy, so I gotta go one-on-one tackling drill with him, just playing around. I’m gonna get out there and interact with them because I feel like it’s really important just as college athletes to even just have conversations, get on the game or anything with them.”
Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders teamed with Gatorade to donate sports equipment to the N.E.D Falcons Youth Organization in Denver on Monday, July 24, 2023. (Brian Howell/BuffZone)