NFL fans were shocked after quarterback Shedeur Sanders was selected 144th in the NFL draft to the Cleveland Browns on Saturday, April. 26. After coming into the draft as a potential No. 1 pick, Sanders surprisingly went undrafted through the draft’s first two days despite his successful collegiate career.
The young quarterback played at The University of Colorado Boulder under his father, Deion Sanders, who belongs to the NFL Hall of Fame for his skills as a two-time superbowl winning cornerback. Shedeur Sanders’ 74.0 completion percentage combined with his 4,134 passing yards in his final year of college allowed him to be commended with an abundance of athletic honors.
The Colorado standout’s many achievements throughout college are what led fans to believe that Sanders would be snatched by any NFL team as soon as possible. Prior to the first night of the draft, trusted NFL experts Kurt Benkert and Daniel Jeremiah both wrote features on Sanders, as it seemed inevitable that the quarterback would be selected in the first round. Even the President of the United States felt compelled to make a statement on Sanders’ greatness.
“[Sanders] should be picked immediately by a team that wants to win,” President Donald Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “[He] has phenomenal genes and is all set for greatness.”
Everyone who followed the NFL draft experienced surprise on the draft’s first day when Sanders was not picked. Fans felt even more stunned once the projected first round pick had to wait until the fifth round to finally be selected by Cleveland, especially after the Browns drafted another quarterback, Dillon Gabriel, just a few rounds prior.
“I was so confused because he was projected to go top ten and then fell all the way to the fifth round,” freshman Beckett Calic said. “In my opinion, waiting that long to take Shedeur is crazy, but I think teams are worried about his attitude as a player.”
Sanders and his family were all anticipating for him to be picked on the first night as well, but the shocked quarterback managed to maintain a positive morale and high spirits.
“We all didn’t expect this of course, but I feel like with God, anything’s possible, everything’s possible,” Sanders said in a video on Youtube. “I don’t think this happened for no reason. All this is, of course, fuel to the fire.”
Football fans questioned the decision making behind teams desperate for quarterbacks, like the Giants and Titans, sidestepping Sanders over and over again. Seeking some sort of answer, fans tried to dig up stories about Sanders’ ego or talent evaluation. Unfortunately for Sanders, reports seemed to suggest that his draft position was undermined by a bad attitude in pre-draft interviews.
“Shedeur (who has never had anyone but his father as his head coach) opted out of combine workouts, like elite quarterbacks tend to do, as if he had nothing to prove,” NFL writer Mike Jones wrote in The Athletic. “Rarely are signs of disrespect and arrogance brushed aside — especially if that player doesn’t possess elite skills, which most NFL talent evaluators agree, young Sanders does not.”
Sander’s night only became more troubling after the Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator’s son, Jax Ulbrich, prank called the prospective NFL quarterback. During the call, Ulbrich pretended to be the general manager of the New Orleans Saints, assuring Sanders that the Saints will be picking Colorado’s former quarterback in the first round. This cruel joke spurred lots of ridicule in the media towards Jax Ulbrich, prompting the young man to post a formal apology to Sanders. It also caused Ulbrich and the Atlanta Falcons to receive a hefty fine for this nasty action.
Although the circumstances in which Sanders joined an NFL team were unexpected and dramatic, the Cleveland Browns and the Sanders family are overjoyed with the future for young Sanders in Ohio.
“We felt like he was a good solid prospect at the most important position,” Andrew Berry, Browns executive vice president and general manager, said in a statement issued by the team. “We view him as a highly accurate pocket passer who does a good job of taking care of the ball. We’re excited to work with him.”
