Shilo, Shedeur Sanders call out critics of NIL

Shilo and Shedeur Sanders, the two sons of Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, have been at the center of the NIL boom in college athletics. But they’re a little tired of the critics, especially those talking out of both sides.

Speaking with media at Big 12 Media Days this week, the brothers and Colorado players decried getting flak for taking part in a system that many were arguing needed to exist. To them, it’s been perplexing to feel the shift from advocates decrying colleges tamping down athletes economic rights to the athletes earning getting decried themselves.

“So the thing about it is: Alright, everybody fights so hard for NIL. Now we have, now everybody wants to hate on you. Right?” Shilo Sanders said.

His brother added on.

“You can’t ask to get paid and then when people get paid and you hate on each other, that don’t — that just don’t make sense,” Shedeur Sanders said.

Further, the Sanders brothers were a little irked at facing so much criticism when they feel their NIL deals are, largely, keeping in the spirit of the system: Getting paid for making appearances or having their likeness used. They cited modeling in a Louis Vuitton show in Paris earlier this year as an example of them doing the work associated with getting paid for their NIL.

And both seemed to agree it’s a far cry from a lot of NIL deals where collectives are just offering up deals to athletes essentially as a salary.

“It is what it is, when it comes to that,” Shilo Sanders said. “You know — you know what, actually some schools, it’s kind of unfair for us. Because actually have to go do deals. Everybody was talking about us going to the fashion show, modeling for Louis Vuitton. What team has NIL deals where their players actually have to go do stuff? That you see? … We don’t got that. We’ve gotta go, actually, to Paris. Like y’all can hate on that — what I’m saying is we actually have to put in the work for the deals. We can’t just sit back and be like, ‘Collective, thank you. $50,000 in my bank account, appreciate it.'”

Shedeur continued, capping the discussion.

“NIL and all this stuff is cool, but at the end of the day, that stuff’s going to run out,” Shedeur Sanders said. “You’ve gotta be able to have longevity, you’ve gotta be able to actually have love for the game. Money isn’t going to cure that. You’ve gotta actually love the game, put in the work. The money is just there to help you, to guide you, whatever you need, your resources you need to be great. That’s all the money’s there for.”