I realize not everyone, even in our football-crazed part of the world, follows the sport so closely that the NFL Draft is an annual event. But a lot of us do. So for those of you that missed the recent hoopla surrounding former Jackson State and Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, the long and short of it is he wasn’t taken by an NFL team nearly as quickly as a lot of people expected. And by a lot of people, I mostly mean himself and his famous father/Colorado head coach Deion Sanders.

There’s a lot to unpack here about whether or not Shedeur is really as talented as some think, what NFL club he would be the best fit for and a ton of other football-related metrics we could discuss, but what grabbed everyone’s attention during the draft this year were reports of Coach Prime’s son not interviewing well with teams during the annual NFL combine. Some of these reports claimed hubris to be the issue, while others said Shedeur was unprofessional or even seemed uninterested in some franchises.

I have no way of knowing what’s true and what isn’t. Some analysts didn’t seem surprised by this – no doubt at least partially because of who is father is and Deion’s own, well-documented antics as a boisterous player – while others jumped to the younger Sanders’ defense. Regardless of why he wasn’t drafted until the Cleveland Browns took him with the 144th overall pick, there’s a larger lesson to be learned from the entire debacle: character and professionalism still matter.

Way back in the late 80s or early 90s, my dad taught me this lesson when he was my Little League coach for city ball in the town I grew up in. Each year, we had our own little draft for any players who happened to be new to the league or needed to switch teams for whatever reason (usually, once you were on a squad, it was until you aged out). I remember clearly dad taking a kid named Jared over an obviously more talented guy named Ricky. When I asked him why on earth he would do that, he said, “Jared knows how to hustle.” 

It stuck with me that, even as a coach, dad essentially put a premium on hard work and effort over raw talent. Whether in sports or life in general, it seems sometimes as if that line of thinking has been lost to the sands of time. But the debacle surrounding Shedeur — true or not — proves the hunt for guys with character, professionalism and a strong work ethic persists, even at the highest level of sports. That’s good to see.

There’s no doubt Shedeur is a talented player, and I hope he shakes off the “curse” of being a QB in Cleveland and does well. I also hope, if he indeed interviewed as poorly as some reports indicate, that he learns from his mistakes and adjusts.

In the meantime, his brush with free agency should serve as a cautionary tale for all young athletes — and all of us in general — that how you carry yourself and the character you exude can indeed make all the difference in your next opportunity. 

Blake Bell is the general manager and executive editor of The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at blake.bell@vicksburgpost.com.