The slide that Shedeur Sanders took in the 2025 NFL Draft has already become something of a legend.
That’s probably not what the former Colorado quarterback had in mind when he referred to himself as “legendary.”
Nevertheless, Sanders tumbled all the way to the fifth round, eventually landing with the Cleveland Browns. He’s now battling for the starting job among three other quarterbacks: Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and fellow draftee Dillon Gabriel.
Unsurprisingly, Sanders’ father — Colorado head coach Deion Sanders — wasn’t pleased with either of his sons’ draft-day plummets. And he’s finally spoken out about it, admitting that “it hurt.”
Sanders specifically called out the “lies” told about Shedeur’s preparation during the pre-draft process.
“When you sit up there and say something like he went into a meeting unprepared, like, dude,” Deion Sanders said, appearing recently on Asante Samuel’s Say What Needs to Be Said podcast. “Shedeur Sanders? Who has had six different [offensive] coordinators, who has still functioned and leveled up every time we brought somebody new in, and you’re gonna tell me he was unprepared? You’re gonna tell me he had on headphones? Anybody who knows my son understands he’s a professional. He’s gonna go into a meeting with headphones on? Y’all, come on now.”
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Samuel even shared his belief that the attacks were “pre-planned,” with someone purposefully looking to damage Shedeur’s reputation.
“Stop lying,” Deion Sanders said. “You got to understand my kids are built for everything. We had two TV shows, we had shows in high school while playing football junior and senior years. We’ve always been in front of the camera, so they know how to navigate, they know how to handle themselves. You’re not going to catch them in no foolery or no mess. You’re not going to do that whatsoever.”
Both Shedeur and Shilo Sanders have signed rookie contracts with the Browns and Buccaneers, respectively. Both also appear to be progressing well during offseason workouts with their new teams. Shedeur’s story, in particular, remains one of the most talked-about narratives in the NFL heading into the 2025 season.