Shilo Sanders' playful challenge brings Deion Sanders to Buccaneers camp

When Shilo Sanders jokingly told his dad, "You're coming to my practice first. That means I'm your favorite son," it was more than just a quip. On Wednesday, Deion Sanders made good on that playful challenge, attending the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' first day of training camp to support the undrafted rookie.

Coach Prime, who has been balancing his role as Colorado's head coach with ongoing health issues, flew to Tampa Bay to catch Shilo's NFL debut drills.

Deion Sanders is here at first practice of Bucs training camp, watching his son Shilo, an undrafted rookie safety from Colorado. pic.twitter.com/fn8JaCNTue

Shilo, signed shortly after the 2025 NFL draft, is fighting to secure a spot on the Buccaneers' roster.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles, who has two sons playing college football, saw nothing unusual about Sanders' presence at the team's closed practice. "Normal day for me, as far as I'm concerned," Bowles said. "It's a father coming to see his son, like all of us would be doing."

Deion also plans to visit his other son, Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

While Shilo remains a long shot to make the Bucs' 53-man roster, he won't give up so easily.

In May, after signing with the Bucs, he said,

"Well, my take on being disappointed in 'lows' -- it's not really 'low' because you can't change the path and you can't really do anything about something that already happened. So I just trust God, and I always end up doing something great so I just know it's going to happen and whatever's happening currently is to learn or to grow from."

In his final season at Colorado in 2024, Shilo Sanders recorded 67 total tackles, 44 unassisted tackles, two tackles for loss, two pass breakups, two fumble recoveries, one sack, one forced fumble and one defensive touchdown.