There probably is not a more polarizing prospect in this year’s NFL draft than Shedeur Sanders, who is well aware of it and trying to ignore all the glare that comes with it.

“We always understood to block out the noise, even from Jackson State and Colorado,” Sanders said on NFL Network on Thursday. “It’s a lot of critics, it’s a lot of hate. But we know what to do, we know how to handle that in every way. So we remain happy.”

The “critics” and “hate” will come with the territory of being a presumed top draft pick, where stocks will rise and fall, and the son of Deion Sanders, who himself is a larger-than-life personality.

The whispers began around Shedeur Sanders at last month’s scouting combine, where Sanders chose not to throw. NBC Sports reported that two people from two different teams met with Sanders then and found him “unprofessional” and “disinterested.”

Soon after, NFL insider Josina Anderson reported that a quarterbacks coach from “a team drafting in the top seven” thought Sanders came off as “brash” and “arrogant.”

Deion Sanders said he knows the idenтιтy of that coach and threatened to reveal it Thursday, though he did not follow through on the threat.

“We like to call that stuff out, though,” Sanders said on NFL Network during the Big 12 pro day. “I know who it is. You going to make me call him out?”

It is possible that Shedeur Sanders, as a confident quarterback, has come across as cocky. It is also possible that teams interested in selecting Sanders would be interested in denting his stock so other teams would pᴀss on the star Colorado QB.

Sanders said he is trying to ignore all that and called the pre-draft experience “a learning experience” during which he will lean on his father.