Deion Sanders recruited current Heisman finalist to be Shedeur Sanders’ backup QB

Deion Sanders, for the entirety of his son Shedeur's college football career, knew he had a starting quarterback.

First at Jackson State and then for the Colorado Buffaloes, Coach Prime was going to start Shedeur at QB, no questions asked.

He did have a chance to get one of this season's Heisman finalists, though.

Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia has traveled a winding college football journey. It had a chance to go to Jackson State.

On The Pivot podcast recently with Ryan Clark, Pavia shared this story.

"Coach Prime offered me at Jackson State, but he was so real, he said, 'Hey look. We're looking for a backup. You ain't playing over my son even if he gets hurt.' I'm like, at least he's real, you know?"

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It's funny how things work out sometimes.

If Pavia goes to Jackson State, does he ever get a chance to be a star, at Vandy or anywhere else?

He's one of the most exciting quarterbacks in college football. He's also led what at times feels like a miraculous turnaround for the Commodores. 

Maybe if Deion hadn't been as real with Pavia, he would've went to Jackson State, never gotten to play and never made it big.

Now, Pavia will be in New York City on Saturday as a Heisman Trophy finalist. Sometimes it's the paths we don't travel that lead us where we're going.

More CFB news:

• Georgia player who previously medically retired is now in the transfer portal
• Zach Wilson's 4-star QB brother is in the transfer portal
• Arkansas losing a 6-foot-8 behemoth to transfer portal
• Alabama beats Ohio State for a big-time TE recruit
• Florida State chasing 40-TD QB in transfer portal