3 days after being waived by the Buccaneers, Shilo Sanders posted a video on his YouTube channel titled “WAIVED By The Buccaneers…What Now?”. He thanked the Buccaneers for taking a shot with him and his fans for the support throughout. But, well, the same fans have now taken a stance against their man. 

“I’ve been talking to my agent and we’re waiting on the next opportunity,” Sanders said in the video. “If that’s the NFL, cool, but God’s blessed me with a lot of talents to do other things other than play football. I feel like in every athlete’s life, it becomes a point where the game ends for you. I’m not saying that’s what it is now. I’m just saying mentally I’m good because I know that I got a lot of talents and I’ve been blessed. Every athlete comes to this point where you find yourself without the game of football and then you are thinking about what you can do next.”

Those other talents include music, acting, and modeling– areas that Sanders said he’s “well-versed (in) and my parents made sure of that.” It was reported as a possible end of his NFL career in a tweet by NFL reporter Dov Kleiman. “I’ve been prepared for anything to happen because you never know what could happen,” he said in the video. But, well, fans just don’t feel that excitement to follow along anymore. And maybe his performance in the third preseason game against the Buffalo Bills has a lot to do with that.

 Getting flagged for a pass interference in the first quarter, and then throwing a punch at the TE in the second that leads to an ejection, is surely problematic. Because “you’ve got to grow from that,” as per the head coach. But issues leading up to getting waived had been there for a long time. 

Although he finished with 67 tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss and two fumble recoveries in his final season at Colorado in 2024, Tampa was a far cry from that. His stat line shows 4 total tackles, 4 solo tackles, and 0 tackles for loss across his 3 preseason games, along with 0 interceptions and 0 pass deflections– though he did receive 2 penalties and 1 ejection in the final game. Doesn’t look good, eh? 

Fans see it all. So when an emotional message comes hinting at life after the NFL, they don’t receive the message like Sanders might have wanted them to. Instead, the backlash just gets intense:

Shilo Sanders lands in hot water

“Easy to move on when you’re already rich, just sayin,” one fan wrote. That observation taps into the reality that Shilo comes from a high-profile football family. His father, Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders’ success has afforded his children financial security that any other undrafted rookie may not have. And fans are viewing this as a safety net that softens the blow of failure. 

“I mean, he’s set for life either way. Career prospects for him not worth CTE. Football career bag for avg players with no job security year to year ain’t worth it,” another added, echoing the harsh truth of the NFL. For many, the risk of concussions and the looming specter of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) outweighs the uncertain financial reward, especially for someone like Shilo, who has other revenue streams in music, acting, and modeling. The fallback conversation also surfaced with a comment that read,

“I’m sure they can open up a coaching role at Colorado for him if he wants.” While initially sounding like a jab, it’s grounded in reality. Shilo spent the final two years of his college career playing for his father at Jackson State and Colorado, and Deion Sanders has never shied away from integrating family into his coaching ecosystem. It wouldn’t be unprecedented to see Shilo in a staff role, particularly given his football IQ and connection to Coach Prime’s system. Yet others leaned toward the brutal truth of the league’s competitiveness: 

“That’s how it goes, only a very small percentage make it to the NFL. He was never a ‘standout’ for the Bucs,” one fan noted, accurately reflecting the staggering odds and the unforgiving nature of NFL rosters. Even with solid college numbers, including an 80-yard pick-six at Jackson State and multiple forced turnovers at Colorado, Shilo never separated himself in Tampa Bay’s camp, logging just four solo tackles and earning an ejection for an altercation in preseason. The discussion rounded out with a blunt remark: 

“If he’s already giving up, then it seems like they made the right decision!” While harsh, this reflects a common misinterpretation of Shilo’s emotional statement following his release. In reality, he clarified that he’s still exploring opportunities with his agent, and with Toronto Argonauts from the Canadian Football League acquiring his negotiating rights in July, there’s a chance that he could head to Canada, too. But for now, the future does remain up in the air for Sanders, with the comfort of support he’s looking for just not there.