Shedeur Sanders will always find himself at the center of attention because of his name. His father is one of the most illustrious defensive players of all time, and he was a centerpiece of the University of Colorado’s transformation as a football program. He is a polarizing figure for the league, and with his slide in the 2025 NFL Draft, everything he does will be under watch.
This isn’t strictly for football, either, as he found himself in the news for a speeding violation, going 101 mph. While not excusing Sanders’ actions, a former Cleveland Browns head coach, Eric Mangini, came to Sanders’ defense.
Eric Mangini Shares His Thoughts on Shedeur Sanders’ Speeding Violations
Mangini disagreed with NFL analyst Colin Cowherd’s criticism of Sanders based on the speeding ticket. While Cowherd used former examples such as Sanders’ behavior in Colorado, in addition to his now second speeding violation, to defend his stance, Mangini dismissed the magnitude of the speeding ticket. Mangini even recounted himself getting a speeding ticket as the Browns head coach on the first night of the NFL Draft one year.
Mangini defended Sanders by acknowledging that this is the first time Sanders has been away from his father’s care. Sanders has been coached by his father throughout high school and college, so it is truly the first time he has been away from his father’s guidance completely.
“This is like any kid who’s away from home for the first time. There’s gonna be a couple hiccups here and there,” said Mangini on FS1’s “The Herd.”
“This is like any kid who’s away from home for the first time. There’s gonna be a couple hiccups here and there.”
Eric Mangini and @colincowherd disagree on how big of a deal to make of Shedeur Sanders’ speeding ticket. pic.twitter.com/9tt0x9WayG
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) June 20, 2025
Mangini likened Sanders to a young man finally learning to live independently. It will come with mistakes because that’s how people learn, and for Sanders, the speeding infraction is an important life lesson. Sanders has acknowledged that he made mistakes and will have to learn from them.
However, Sanders will have to cut these mistakes out if he wants to find himself climbing up the depth chart. He is the fourth quarterback in line with Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and Dillon Gabriel all ahead of him. Sanders has not seen any first-team reps so far this offseason. Showing out on the field is very important, which he has done so far in his reps, but cleaning up his actions off the field must happen, too.
Sanders has been training with the backups and getting plenty of reps while Pickett, Flacco, and Gabriel have been sharing reps with the starters. It has helped, as Sanders has been one of the more productive quarterbacks over the offseason workouts in Cleveland so far.
Sanders has his eyes set on proving to the NFL that his slide in the draft wasn’t justified and that he belongs as a starting quarterback in the NFL. Only time will tell if he can fight his way up the ranks to be the starting QB while cutting out any distractions or negative attention that may cost him his role.