Deion Sanders wants son Shedeur and Travis Hunter to pull an Eli Manning at 2025 NFL Draft

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders believes two of the standout stars on his Buffaloes squad are too special to play for just any NFL team. He knows where he wants them to play, and just as importantly, where he does not want them to play.

Those stars are cornerback Travis Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders (who is Deion's son). And Friday on the "Million Dollaz Worth of Game" podcast, Coach Sanders said if a team he doesn't like drafts his players, he's going to advise them to do what Eli Manning did back in 2004.

“I know where I want them to go,” Sanders said via Brandon Champion of MLive.com. “So, it's certain cities that ain’t gonna happen. It’s going to be an Eli.”

On draft night in 2004, Manning was taken No. 1 overall by the San Diego Chargers, but refused to play for them, famously requesting a trade to the New York Giants. That worked out pretty well for him, as it did for John Elway in 1983 when he was traded to the Denver Broncos after being drafted by the Baltimore Colts.

Sanders discussed his experience being drafted by the Atlanta Falcons, and wants his kids to have that same experience in their own way.

“There were certain cities that fit," Sanders said via ProFootballTalk. "Atlanta fit, and I want that for my kids. All of them. I want the right fit. [Atlanta] was the first time I saw Black people in positions of authority. It blew my mind. It was real in Atlanta. I had never seen anything like that in my life.”

Sanders said his list of acceptable destinations also includes San Francisco, Baltimore, Washington, and Dallas.

Two players demanding trades on draft night would be landmark, but all of this rides on Hunter and Sanders (the younger) putting up good stats in 2024. If they don't, they won't be in any position to demand anything on draft night. But if they do, the 2025 NFL Draft will be one to watch.