Colorado football QB Shedeur Sanders told The Associated Press how his injury recovery for his fractured back went -- and he certainly didn't make it sound like a walk in the park getting back to a level of health he can play at.
“It took a long time for me to get back 100%," Sanders said. “The weight room program that I’m doing right now slowly built me up ... to where I know I can go out there very confident and do anything, make any throw, make any run. I just feel great now."
As Shedeur said, leaving for the NFL just wouldn't have felt right after the Buffs became the most talked about team in the country after a 3-0 start before losing eight of their next nine and becoming the butt of jokes across the media spectrum.
“I couldn’t leave on that note," Sanders prefaced before saying, "It didn’t feel right.”
As The New York Post’s Christian Arnold put it, there was certainly some thought for Shedeur to leave for the NFL.
“There was certainly some thought that Shedeur could enter this year’s draft and capitalize on the notoriety he had during the 2023 season, and experts predicted that he could be the third-best QB in the draft,” Arnold said.
Deion Sanders talks Colorado football recruiting process: 'Everybody's not built for this stage'
Only Deion Sanders could make the University of Colorado a stage that many aren't built for in the 21st century after the program fell from its 1990s perennial powerhouse heights.
As Coach Prime put it, not everybody's built for the stage Boulder has become.
“Everybody’s not built for that stage," Coach Prime told The AP. "That stage comes with tremendous responsibility. You’ve got to get young men that are used to that and committed to that and want it and relish that opportunity to be on that stage.”
If Sanders' process is to be trusted, he should have the kind of player ready for the spotlight.