Deion Sanders lauded by one analyst for pushback against 'Draft Industrial Complex'

NBC Sports Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio was in the minority of analysts who actually had positive things to say about Deion Sanders' remarks that he would force a trade a la Eli Manning in 2004 if his sons Shedeur and Shilo Sanders or Travis Hunter was drafted to a cold-weather city -- crediting Coach Prime for pushing back against the "Draft Industrial Complex."

"We’ve all been brainwashed into accepting the basic premise of the Draft Industrial Complex," Florio prefaced before saying, "It’s an 'honor and a privilege' to be told to move to a city where the player doesn’t want to live and to play for a dysfunctional team with a dysfunctional owner and/or dysfunctional G.M. and/or dysfunctional coach and/or a bare cupboard of talent around the player.

"The pushback needs to happen, on a regular basis. Deion, who was a trailblazer as a player in many ways, could be the one to spark a new age of resistance against the notion that great players must submit to the bizarre Harry Potter sorting hat that not only determines whether college football players will start their NFL careers but also potentially determines their ultimate football fates. Because if, after a year or two or three, the player isn’t thriving, he’ll be viewed as a bust — even if it’s the team’s fault for failing to develop and/or support him the way other teams would have."

Bravo to Florio for coming up with a topical phrase and consumable means to describe the NFL's annual draft process by which league executives have full control over where emerging talents from the NCAA receive their first life-changing paycheck. In many ways, Florio advocating for player empowerment, which is something fans should care more about than owners getting their way for the sake of the product.

Deion Sanders didn't need to make spectacle with public trade demand a year before Shedeur, Shilo, or Travis Hunter would be drafted

I suppose the only issue in all of this is Sanders making this trade demand public over a year before either of his sons or Hunter would be drafted to the NFL. Coach Prime has flexed his NFL connections in responding to rumors he doesn't go on recruiting visits, so why couldn't he do discuss this with them behind the scenes?

We all know why -- the "Prime Time" spotlight is seemingly a drug to Sanders, for better or for worse -- but in doing this, he has brought negative attention to his sons' and Hunter's draft processes.