Shedeur Sanders, Deion Sanders, Shilo Sanders and Deion Sanders Jr. attend the 13th annual NFL Honors on February 08, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo:
Ethan Miller/Getty
Football runs in Deion Sanders‘ family.
On April 26, Shedeur Sanders — the youngest son of the Pro Football Hall of Famer — followed in his dad’s footsteps when he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns. Shedeur was passed over in the first four rounds, becoming the 144th overall pick in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
The late selection came as a surprise to Deion and Shedeur. The father-son duo attended a celebratory party on the first day of the draft. In a clip posted to X, Deion could be seen shaking his head when the New Orleans Saints picked Kelvin Banks Jr. over his son.
That same day, Shilo — Sander’s middle son — signed as an undrafted free agent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, per USA Today.
Sanders became a father for the first time in 1992 when he and his first wife, Carolyn Chambers, welcomed their daughter, Deiondra. A year later, their son, Deion Jr., was born. The NFL star shares Shilo, Shedeur and daughter Shelomi with his second wife, Pilar Biggers-Sanders.
Here’s everything to know about Deion Sanders’ kids: Deiondra, Deion Jr., Shilo, Shedeur and Shelomi.
Deiondra Sanders in 2019. Paras Griffin/Getty
Sanders’ eldest child, daughter Deiondra Sanders, was born on April 17, 1992, to the pro athlete and his first wife, Carolyn Chambers.
At the time, Sanders was playing two professional sports — making it to the 1992 World Series with the Atlanta Braves while simultaneously playing football with the Atlanta Falcons. On Oct. 11, 1992, when Deiondra was 6 months old, Sanders even attempted to play in both an MLB game and an NFL game on the same day, per ESPN.
Growing up as the daughter of a professional athlete was “bittersweet,” Deiondra revealed in an interview on The Reflections Show. “The bitter part is because I was always judged a lot at school,” she shared. “I didn’t have as many friends. I was always traveling with my parents.”
Deiondra continued, “But it was great because, I mean, I probably grew up how every kid would want to, so that was the great part, the sweet part. It was traveling all the time, meeting celebrities, we had chefs.”
While Sanders was a professional athlete for most of Deiondra’s childhood, her young adult years were spent delving into the world of reality television. Beginning in 2008, Deiondra made appearances with her family on the Oxygen network reality show Deion and Pilar: Prime Time Love. Later, from 2014 to 2015, she starred on the OWN show Deion’s Family Playbook with her four siblings, her famous father and his ex-fiancée, Tracey Edmonds. Deiondra also appeared on Paradise Hotel in 2019.
According to her LinkedIn profile, she’s been the director of communications for Sc3 Sports Management since June 2019.
“I do like that my dad’s legacy gets me in the door,” she admitted on The Reflections Show. “But I always say, I, myself and my hard work is what keeps me there … people are starting to come up to me and know me for, that I work with athletes.”
On Aug. 9, 2024, Deiondra and her fiancé, R&B musician Jacquees, welcomed their first child together: son Que.
“Being a first-time grandfather is wonderful,” Deion told PEOPLE.
Deiondra supported her brother Shedeur during his NFL Draft slide, posting on X, “‘So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.’ Matthew 20:16.”
Deion Sanders Jr. Deion Sanders Jr. Twitter
Sanders and Chambers welcomed their second child, a son named Deion Jr., on Dec. 1, 1993.
Deion quickly followed his father’s footsteps into football, playing wide receiver at Marcus High School in Dallas, Texas, and Atlanta Sports Academy in Georgia. He eventually played college football at Southern Methodist University in Texas for three seasons.
Deion Jr.’s time spent at SMU earned him several headlines. In April 2013, he posted a photo of himself in his SMU dorm with Versace bedding, writing, “Gotta sleep good! #Versace.” In August of that same year, Deion Jr. was investigated by the SMU compliance department after sharing a picture of himself backstage at a Lil Wayne concert, according to Bleacher Report. Two years later, his father called out SMU’s coach for Deion Jr.’s lack of playing time on the field, per 247 Sports.
“It’s hard for me to understand how the only kid that was an all-conference kid on the team as a returner doesn’t start off returning,” Sanders said. “I don’t know how that works.”
After hanging up his helmet, Deion Jr. moved on from football to fashion, launching his streetwear clothing brand Well Off in 2016. “I stopped playing football my junior year in college. I didn’t go to ‘the league,’ ” Deion Jr. wrote on the brand’s website. “I had to find another way to ‘ball’ without sports….. I had to find another way to be creative and express myself. I had to find something else that I loved doing and that I could put my time into”.
Deion Jr. also inherited his father’s musical talents: The oldest Sanders son first released a rap track called “Swaggin” in 2011. More recently, in 2022, he released the songs “Money Old” and “Kandy.”
Shilo Sanders. Shilo Sanders Instagram
Sanders’ second son (and first child with second wife Biggers-Sanders), Shilo Sanders, was born on Feb. 9, 2000.
Sanders’ middle child is another talented football star — and had the opportunity to play at his father’s alma mater, Florida State. In 2019, Shilo received a football scholarship offer from Florida State, where Sanders was an All-American player in the 1980s before launching his NFL career.
“If I choose to take that route, and follow in my dad’s footsteps, then that’s excellent,” Shilo told ESPN at the time. “But I’m definitely interested in doing my own thing, too, so both could be gratifying. No matter where I go, I’m going to have the same target on my back, so it’s just finding what’s best for me.”
Shilo ended up forging his own path, playing at the University of South Carolina for two years. But after Sanders became the head coach at Jackson State University in 2020, Shilo took the chance to play for his legendary father and transferred to the historically Black college in December 2020.
“Pops said he needed some dawgs! So I’m joining my brother to help change the game at JSU and level the HBCU playing field #BIG21 #IBelieveJSU21” Shilo wrote at the time.
But playing for his Hall-of-Famer father has its ups and downs. The highs include Jackson State’s first-ever undefeated football season in 2022. But the low is a complicated dynamic between father and son.
“When I’m on the field, I’m not your dad, I’m your coach,” Sanders said to Shilo in a video posted to Deion Jr.’s YouTube channel. “This is the problem, he can’t decipher dad and coach.”
In December 2022, Sanders took a head coaching job at the University of Colorado Boulder. Shilo, who had two years of eligibility remaining, decided to follow his dad after earning a degree from Jackson State.
Football aside, the father-and-son duo know how to have fun together off the field. Shilo often posts videos to YouTube of himself impersonating Sanders or playing practical jokes on his dad.
“I just like to have fun,” Shilo told the media blog Boardroom in August 2022. “I keep building my brand in my mind. [My pops] was known for a lot off the field. We talk about it all the time. The combination of the off-the-field presence and the on-the-field presence that he had and the way he did it made a really big difference. I want to do that too.”
In January 2024, Shilo and his brother, Shedeur, walked the runway at Louis Vuitton’s Men’s Fall/Winter 2024 Show in Paris. Shedeur modeled trousers with a camouflage print, along with a brown shirt and neon vest. Shilo wore a camouflage puffer jacket paired with brown pants.
While talking to creative director Pharrell Williams in a video shared by Deion Jr.’s Well Off Media YouTube channel, Shilo said that he and Shedeur want to be known for more than just their athleticism.
“We want to be multi-dimensional. We don’t want to be just football,” Shilo said.
Football, however, will remain a large part of Shilo’s life for the foreseeable future. On April 26, Shilo shared on a Twitch livestream that he decided to hire agent Drew Rosenhaus in the wake of Shedeur’s slide to the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
“Dad was our agent,” he said. “But that hasn’t been working out too good. So today I had to sign with an agent.”
Shortly after the draft’s conclusion, Shilo signed as an undrafted free agent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Shedeur Sanders. Shedeur Sanders Instagram
Sanders’ third son Shedeur is also a protegé when it comes to athletics. Born on Feb. 7, 2002, to Sanders and Biggers-Sanders, Shedeur’s career as a football quarterback took off in high school at Trinity Christian-Cedar Hill School in Texas (where his father was offensive coordinator for the football team).
After originally committing to play college football at Florida Atlantic University, Shedeur flipped to Jackson State in 2021 — joining his father and big brother Shilo in what he called “a dream come true.”
“I feel like what we’re doing nobody has ever done. It’s going to inspire more people to hop on the wave to join it,” Shedeur told The Dallas Morning News in December 2020. “People are scared to be the first to do anything, so now we paved the way for others to join.”
In 2022, Shedeur made history by becoming the first athlete from a historically Black college and university to sign a brand deal with Gatorade, Fox Business reported. The standout quarterback also nabbed contracts with Beats by Dre and Tom Brady’s sports apparel line BRADY.
“Not only is he an exceptional football player and quarterback but he is one of the most influential players of his generation,” Brady told PEOPLE exclusively about Shedeur in October 2022.
Shedeur went on to play for his dad — and alongside his brother Shilo — at the University of Colorado Boulder.
In December 2022, at a press conference in Boulder, where Sanders was officially announced as Colorado’s next head coach, the Hall of Famer pointed to Shedeur, saying, “This is your quarterback.” Sanders added, “He’s gonna have to earn it though.”
After two seasons at the University of Colorado Boulder, Shedeur declared for the 2025 NFL Draft. He was ultimately selected in the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns.
This came as a surprise, considering several draft analysts predicted Shedeur to be a first-round pick. Sanders was under the same assumption and threw a draft-day party for his son, which ended with a hopeful speech from Shedeur.
“I didn’t expect this, of course,” he said to the crowd. “I feel like with God, anything is possible. I don’t feel like this happened for no reason. This is fuel to the fire.”
On the second day of the NFL draft, Jax Ulbrich, the son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, prank called Shedeur, pretending to be New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis.
On April 26, Shedeur was drafted in the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns. “Thank you GOD,” he wrote on X.
Shelomi Sanders. Shelomi Sanders Instagram
The youngest of the Sanders clan is daughter Shelomi, who was born on Dec. 14, 2003, to Sanders and Biggers-Sanders.
Not to be outdone by her athletic older siblings, Shelomi has made a name for herself as a basketball star — signing on to play at Jackson State in 2022.
“When I tell u GOD is Good GOD is Good! My young daughter @shelomisanders has committed to play basketball for the Back 2 Back Swac Champions @gojsutigerswbb !” Sanders posted on Instagram following Shelomi’s announcement. He added, “God is so good. 3 kids on campus!” (At the time, big brothers Shilo and Shedeur were both on the JSU football team.)
In Shelomi’s JSU debut in November 2022, she kicked off her college basketball career by sinking a three-point shot. “I’m so PROUD of u baby girl @shelomisanders,” Sanders wrote on Instagram following her first collegiate game.
In addition to being a proud father, Sanders is also a typical overprotective dad when it comes to his youngest child — whom they refer to as “Bossy.”
For her senior prom, Sanders wrote on Instagram, “Thank u for coming home right after the prom baby because we had u under heavy surveillance last night because we know these young men because i coach them & I have 3 sons.”
Sanders also joked with Shelomi on her first day at Jackson State about her shorts being too short. In a clip he posted to Twitter, Sanders said, “She still walk up in here with her little f—— shorts on.” He added, “Who do that, knowing your daddy is on campus?”
Shelomi laughed, responding to her dad: “I gotta look cute.”
