April’s NFL draft was a time to forget for Shedeur Sanders.
The 23-year-old not only had to wait until the fifth round to hear his name called, but also had to face a barrage of criticism before and after the annual draft as some questioned his character.
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Sanders’ slide in the NFL draft shocked everyone.
The quarterback went from being a potential top three pick to falling all the way down to 144, when the Cleveland Browns ultimately traded up and selected him.
The exact reason for his slide is still unknown, but multiple reporters have claimed that teams emerged with negative opinions of Sanders after their pre-draft meetings with him.
“It did hurt,” dad Deion Sanders said when asked about the criticism of his son in an appearance on Asante Samuel’s Say What Needs To Be Said podcast.
Some have leaped to the defence of Sanders amid the fallout, including NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe, who made clear he’s not buying any of the criticism leveled at the younger Sanders by front offices.
“You know what I bet they did?” Sharpe said on an episode of his Nightcap podcast.
“He probably had the headphones around his neck and they talking like he had them on. I bet you that’s what they did.”
Sharpe also took aim at those inside NFL franchises who are leaking negative reports, questioning what they even get from slamming Sanders.
“Ya’ll don’t gotta lie on the man,” Sharpe added.
“That’s it. But look, his dad has prepared for this. Guess what? He’s been Deion Sanders’ son as long as he hadn’t been. He hadn’t been anything but that. So, the criticism has always been there.”
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Sharpe isn’t the only high-profile figure to come to the aid of Sanders, with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith also launching into a passionate defence of the young quarterback.
“Deion, as I told y’all, was devastated,” Smith said on Tuesday’s episode of ESPN’s First Take when asked about Shedeur’s draft slife.
“When I came on the airwaves and talked about how devastated he was… I had not spoken to him at the time.
“I’ve spoken to him since, because he called me to thank me for being accurate about what I was saying about the level of devastation that he had felt.
“Because it was a painstaking thing for him to endure, to watch his son plummet knowing it wasn’t because of his ability.”
Smith’s remarks come after Sanders dad, Deion, dismissed claims about his son’s unprofessional attitude during NFL meetings.
“When you sit up there and say something like he went into a meeting unprepared…Shedeur Sanders? Come on,” Deion said.
“Anybody who knows my son understands he’s a professional…You’re going to tell me he had on headphones? Y’all, come on now.”
It won’t be long until Sanders has the opportunity to shut down the negativity with training camp just a month away and the NFL season looming.
However, he will have to win the starting job in Cleveland, with the Browns also having rookie Dillion Gabriel in their quarterback room alongside veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett.
The Athletic’s Zac Jackson reported that there is “almost no scenario where a rookie wins the starting job initially.”
He also claimed Gabriel and Sanders will instead likely compete for “longer-term positioning” with the franchise.
Flacco and Pickett are only signed for the 2025 season so it seems as though Sanders and Gabriel will battle it out to be the Browns’ long-term quarterback.
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