Shedeur Sanders (right) is the new face of Gatorade. The sports drink giant signed Sanders to a multi-year partnership, making him the first HBCU student-athlete in the company’s history.
Gatorade announced the historic deal with the 19-year-old Jackson State University quarterback on Friday.
Sanders — the son of NFL icon and current Jackson State football coach Deion Sanders — joins tennis champ Serena Williams, NBA stars Jayson Tatum and Zion Williamson, and the WNBA’s Candace Parker on the Gatorade roster.
Sanders told HBCU Nation that he is “honored to be a part of the Gatorade family. First and foremost, I’m blessed. It’s a great opportunity. As a kid, I was drinking Gatorade regularly. So now that we have the opportunity to partner with them and be a part of Gatorade, I’m very blessed.”
He said the deal will “definitely be helping other HBCUs. This is about the numbers. It’s about to go crazy. So right now, we’re still planning on the exact details. I’ll just let you know whenever we got things finalized.”
Sanders helped lead Jackson State football to an 11-2 record in 2021 and a SWAC championship.
BREAKING: @Gatorade has signed Jackson State University QB Shedeur Sanders to a multi-year NIL partnership, making him the 1st HBCU athlete signing in company history. pic.twitter.com/n7hPjNKdRR
— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) January 27, 2022
