TAMPA — The phone calls start around 6 a.m., Shilo Sanders said. His younger brother, Shedeur, a quarterback with the Browns, is on roughly the same rookie minicamp schedule that Shilo is following with the Bucs.“He’s been missing me,” Shilo said Saturday. “He wants some brotherly love. You know, he misses me and stuff. His big brother is no longer next to him in practice. And, you know, we talk a lot.”Friday, Shedeur called while Shilo was meeting with assistant secondary coach Rashad Johnson.“Bro, you’re messing up my study session,” Shilo said. "You need to be studying."“Prime Time’s” kids may both be on Eastern Daylight Time, but for the first time after two seasons playing under their father, Deion, at Colorado they are forging their own paths in the NFL. While Shedeur’s precipitous fall to the Browns in the fifth round was the story of the draft, Shilo’s wait was even longer. The draft had ended without Shilo’s name being called. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, made teams aware that he was representing the Buffaloes safety in a text. When Bucs general manager Jason Licht received it, he shared it with head coach Todd Bowles. Both said, ‘Let’s sign him."Deion was on board, too. On the family’s live Twitch stream, the Pro Football Hall of Famer enthused, “Todd is a defensive-minded guy. He’s brilliant.”Bucs rookie Shilo Sanders responds to questions during a news conference Saturday in Tampa. When he walked into the room, he exclaimed, “My new media team here!” and shook the hand of every media member. [ RICK STROUD | Times ]It didn’t take Shilo long to leave an impression on the Bucs.He arrived earlier in the week before Thursday’s start of rookie minicamp to meet some of the veteran players, including All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr. “He gave me the coaches I need to talk to (so I could) learn some extra,” Shilo said. “I was just happy for this opportunity, just grateful. I want to prepare myself the best that I can for this rookie camp, and (Friday) was a good day.”So good, in fact, Bowles praised Sanders for his ability to communicate the defensive calls.“Like the rest of the safeties, he’s very intelligent, he’s very loud,” Bowles said. “You can hear him making calls and everything, so he’s got a good grasp of things Day 1. There were about three or four of them that did; he’s one of them. But you’ve got to make plays in pads, obviously, and that’s what it comes down to. Knowing what to do and then doing it consistently and constantly getting better every day.”“Respectful” is a word that already has been used to describe Sanders following his interaction with the Bucs equipment staff, trainers and other team personnel. Shortly after arriving, he asked to speak to the social media team. Turns out, he had 1.2 million followers on Instagram, while the official Bucs account had 1.5 million.Stay updated on Tampa Bay’s sports sceneSubscribe to our free Sports Today newsletterWe’ll send you news and analysis on the Bucs, Lightning, Rays and Florida’s college football teams every day.Loading...You’re all signed up!Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.Explore all your optionsWhen he walked into his first news conference Saturday, he shook the hand of every media member. “My new media team here!” Sanders exclaimed, smiling. The Bucs were the only team Sanders considered signing with, he said.“Man, look where we’re at. You know what I’m saying?” he said. “Just look at the whole coaching staff. It’s a real supportive coaching staff. Everybody wants to see everybody do good. Even the guys on the team. I’ve just been talking to everybody, and everybody is cool. We all want to see each other win, and it’s just a great environment to thrive in.”Colorado safety Shilo Sanders is shown during a game against Arizona in October in Tucson, Ariz. He finished his college career with seven forced fumbles and six interceptions, including one he returned for a touchdown. [ RICK SCUTERI | Associated Press, 2024 ]Unlike many of the players at rookie minicamp, Sanders is 25, having played six seasons of college football at South Carolina (2020-21), Jackson State (2021-22) and Colorado (2023-24), the last two stops with his brother and father. Bowles has said the Bucs are looking for ballhawks on defense. Sanders finished his college career with seven forced fumbles and six interceptions, including one he returned for a touchdown.“It’s just an ‘it’ thing,” Sanders said. “You’ve got it or you don’t. My whole career, I’ve been a guy who gets the ball out in any way, shape or form. Forced fumbles, picks — it is what it is. I’m going to get the ball. That’s the whole point for playing defense. We want to get the offense the ball."To say Sanders is feeling at home in Tampa Bay is an understatement. He’s adjusting to the heat and humidity, but the thin air in Boulder, Colorado, helped get him in shape for rookie minicamp.Sanders, who was on a livestream for the entirety of the draft, said he had just walked downstairs to speak with his father following the final pick when he got a call from Rosenhaus telling him the Bucs had offered him a contract.“I think I did the ‘Dougie’ (a hip-hop dance popularized by Doug E. Fresh) for about 15 minutes,” he said. “I’m just so grateful for the opportunity of them just giving me this chance when nobody else would at that time.”Few head coaches can relate to the Sanders family as well as Bowles, who has sons playing at Michigan and Long Island University.“Deion understands the game,” Bowles said. “But as a father, when your sons try to make it you’re always looking at it as a father first. As long as their dreams come true and you get to see them as a parent, that’s really the main thing you want to see. You want your kids to be better than what you were. Do better than what you were, and that’s all you can hope for.”• • •Sign up for our Sports Today newsletter to get daily updates on the Bucs, Rays, Lightning and college football across Florida.Every weekday, tune into our Sports Day Tampa Bay podcast to hear reporter Rick Stroud break down the biggest stories in Tampa Bay sports.Never miss out on the latest with your favorite Tampa Bay sports teams. Follow our coverage on X and Facebook.