Deion: It hurt to hear predraft attacks on Shedeur, Shilo

Colorado head coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders admits he was hurt by the attacks sons Shedeur and Shilo Sanders received ahead of this year's NFL draft.

Deion opened up about the predraft process on a recent episode of the "Say What Needs To Be Said" podcast with former NFL cornerback Asante Samuel, saying he's choosing to look on the bright side of it all.

"It hurt," Deion said. "But, you know, the Bible says God uses the foolish things to confound the wise. So it was some foolish stuff that went on, but you know what? That gave them something that they needed. That gave them something that they said, 'Alright.'

"Like that edge that Tom (Brady) had, it gave them the edge that you had, it gave them the edge that I have. You know, when folks would say we weren't gonna be nothing. We had to prove that. That gave them the edge that they needed."

Deion also hit back against reports claiming Shedeur was unprepared and unprofessional during predraft meetings with NFL teams.

"When you sit up there and say something like, 'He went into a meeting unprepared,' like, dude," Deion said. "Shedeur Sanders? Who has had six different (offensive) coordinators, who has still functioned and went up, leveled up, every time we brought somebody new in, and you're gonna tell me he was unprepared? You're gonna tell me he had on headphones? Shedeur? Anybody who knows my son understands he's a professional. He's gonna go into a meeting with headphones on? Y'all, come on now."

Shedeur was widely projected to be taken in the first round of the draft but fell to the fifth round, where the Cleveland Browns selected him 144th overall. Shilo, meanwhile, signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent.