Keyshawn Johnson says Deion Sanders reached out after Johnson made comments on TV about Shedeur Sanders, underlining how closely the Sanders family is tracking public talk about the young quarterback.
The former NFL wide receiver discussed the phone call during a recent appearance on ALL THE SMOKE: Unplugged, where he said he had simply wanted to see Shedeur get a chance to start. That became more relevant on Sunday, when Shedeur Sanders made his first start of the 2026 season for the Cleveland Browns in a 23-22 loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Deion Sanders phone call to Keyshawn Johnson
Johnson said he remembered making his point on TV and then hearing back from Deion Sanders after Shedeur Sanders reacted to it. In Johnson's telling, Shedeur had told his father about the comments, and Prime then called him directly.
Johnson said: “I want to see Shedeur start,” adding, “I want to see you start, Shedeur. I just want to make sure, because the last time I said something about him on TV he went and told his daddy. Then Prime had to call me and tell me to cuss his ass out.”
He also said, “Prime was mad at me for that,” before explaining the reaction by saying, “Because he's just a kid, man. He didn't know. He thought I was saying something negative about him.”
Shedeur gets his chance in Cleveland
The broader point is that Johnson's remarks were made before Shedeur Sanders had taken that first step in the 2026 season. At the start of the year, he was Cleveland's backup quarterback behind Deshaun Watson.
That changed on Sunday, when Shedeur started against the New Orleans Saints. He completed 19 of 31 passes for 297 yards and two touchdowns in the Browns' 23-22 loss.
It was the sort of performance that gives the conversation more weight. Johnson had been asking to see Shedeur start, and now there is at least one game to assess. The numbers were encouraging, even if the result did not go Cleveland's way.
What Deion Sanders clearly showed, though, is that any public discussion about Shedeur Sanders is likely to get a private response. In that sense, the phone call to Keyshawn Johnson was as revealing as the quarterback's first start itself.
