Cleveland Browns rookie Shedeur Sanders is already making waves in his new city. Sanders has become highly involved in the Cleveland community before taking his first NFL snap.
From his work at the Garden Valley Fun Fest to his viral appearance at a KFC drive-thru, Sanders has heavily interacted with Cleveland and its residents. The Colorado Buffaloes football legend is winning many fans over after his controversial start to the summer and unprecedented NFL Draft slide.
On Cleveland radio’s 92.3 The Fan, former NFL receiver and Ohio native Cecil Shorts joined the show to talk about Sanders’ early community impact.
“I’ll be honest with you, I’ve never seen what Shedeur Sanders is doing this early on in a player’s career,” Shorts said. “I’ve never seen that before, I’ve never seen a rookie come into the league and before he even played a snap is already in the Garden Valley Projects … All the things he’s doing (in the community). It’s a special thing he’s doing, that’s not normal.”
Shorts praised Sanders for his activism and enthusiasm as a rookie, noting the fifth-round talent’s actions as more genuine than the typical actions of more experienced and accomplished athletes.
“What he’s doing is he’s winning the fans over, he’s winning the city of Cleveland over,” Shorts said. “To me, it’s genuine. A lot of the times, guys will go after they have a Pro-Bowl season or after they make some plays in a game. You’ll see them out there with their jersey on with all these Browns people around them … This is him and his crew doing it because he wants to do it. This brings hope to everybody watching.”
If Sanders can grind his way to a starting role for Cleveland, he could emerge as the ultimate Browns fan favorite.