Deion Sanders’ visit to Cleveland last week was about much more than checking in on his son.
While Shedeur Sanders continued competing at Cleveland Browns training camp, the Colorado Buffaloes head coach took a few moments to reconnect with someone whose impact on his football journey dates back decades.
Appearing on Big Play Live with Nick Pedone, Browns legend Hanford Dixon revealed that Sanders personally called him while he was in town, wanting to express his appreciation for the role Dixon and fellow Browns great Frank Minnifield played in shaping the way he approached the cornerback position. Deion studied many of the game’s elite defensive backs, and the Browns duo formed one of the league’s premier cornerback tandems during the franchise's playoff runs in the 1980s.
“I got a call from Deion,” Dixon said. “He just called me and said he was in town. And he wanted to reach out to me and just say what I meant to his career, how he watched the way Frank and I played bump-and-run.”
For Colorado fans, the story offers another glimpse into a side of Coach Prime that isn’t always in front of the cameras. Rather than letting that admiration go unspoken, Sanders made a point to tell Dixon himself.
Colorado’s season opener is rapidly approaching, yet Sanders still traveled to Northeast Ohio to watch Shedeur compete while continuing preparations for the Buffaloes’ upcoming season.
“He’s got to be busy right now trying to get his Colorado team ready for the season,” Dixon said. “But he has done a really good job raising that kid.”
Dixon said he could immediately hear the pride in Sanders’ voice as they talked about Shedeur’s opportunity with the Browns.
“You could tell just listening to it in his voice how proud he is of him,” Dixon said. “Obviously, for him to take the time to come down here and watch him shows how much he appreciates him.”
The former Browns standout also defended Shedeur, who has drawn plenty of attention throughout training camp as he competes in Cleveland’s crowded quarterback room.
“A lot of people have some gripes with Shedeur,” Dixon said. “Let’s leave him alone. The kid is still a young kid. He’s accepted Cleveland as his home. Deion is really, really proud of him, and obviously he should be.”
Dixon declined to share additional details from his conversation with Sanders, joking that some parts of the exchange would remain private.
When pressed by the show’s hosts about whether there was more to the story, Dixon laughed.
“You almost got me,” he said. “I’m not going to get into the conversation. Not yet.”
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