Initially a contender to go No. 1 overall, Shedeur Sanders was shockingly passed on by all 32 NFL teams through the first four rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft. As he kept falling out of each round, experts started discussing the possibility that the issue with Sanders was more off-field than on-field.
ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith spoke on his show on Saturday about how teams could have also passed up on Sanders because of his father, Deion Sanders. Smith was one of several analysts angered by the Colorado QB’s slide. He argued that all 32 teams attempted to teach him a lesson. The multi-million-dollar TV personality termed the moment a shameful one for the league.
Stephen A. Smith Tears Into NFL Over Its Treatment of Shedeur Sanders
Shedeur Sanders was consistently viewed as the second-best quarterback prospect in this draft class, with the only real competition for that spot coming from Jaxson Dart, the Ole Miss QB. Dart ended up being selected at No. 25 overall, with the New York Giants trading up to secure his services.
Sanders watched three more quarterbacks get selected ahead of him, including Tyler Shough and Dillon Gabriel. As he slid into Day 3, many feared he might remain undrafted, but the Cleveland Browns eventually took him at No. 144 overall.
But while Sanders was dancing in joy after a team eventually drafted him, Smith was fuming and dropped a scathing rant on his YouTube channel.
“It was a check hook,” Smith said. “Stay in your lane. Know your position. This is the National Football League. You ain’t running a damn thing this way. You will be humble. You will conduct yourself with humility. Nothing is given to you. Everything is earned, and even then, we’ll decide whether we want to give it to you or not.
“That’s how they treated Shedeur Sanders, and I find it very, very difficult to believe that the people who would do that would feel the need to have the energy to do this to a kid straight out of college,” the analyst said on “The Stephen A. Smith Show.”
“That kind of energy, that kind of message, that insatiable appetite to send and cement that kind of imprint on this young man, has to be, at least to some degree, about his father.”
While Smith acknowledged that the prospect could have done better in the team interviews and shown more humility, he couldn’t help but highlight how Sanders’ slide was more about his father than about him.
“You can’t touch Prime Time Deion Sanders, you can’t shake his confidence, his innate belief in himself. So to rattle him, you targeted his son,” Smith said. “That is my opinion. I’m not saying that’s all it was. Certainly, Shedeur Sanders could have done things better. Better interview process, a bit more humility, according to people in the NFL, etc.
“I get that, and no, he was not better than Cam Ward, and maybe just maybe Jaxson Dart was the right pick for the Giants to make. But when 32 teams select to pass on a quarterback that was projected as a top two quarterback in the entire draft for nearly five complete rounds. That ain’t about football. That’s about something else.”
Speaking about Coach Prime, Smith added, “And it’s a damn shame I’m sick to my stomach, I want to throw up. My heart goes out to Deion Sanders more than anybody. I know it’s bad. It was a bad experience for Shedeur, but he got drafted. You see him dancing, he’s gonna be fine, but I know in my soul that Deion Sanders knows they did this to Shedeur, at least in part because of him.
“To Deion Sanders, not that I have to tell you this. Keep your head up, bro. Keep your head up. Shedeur did not deserve this.”
Smith, like many analysts, came down on the NFL and team owners, but argued that it would only push the new Browns quarterback harder. Sanders had an efficient 2024 season at Colorado, completing 74.0% of his passes for 4,134 yards and 37 touchdowns, leading the Buffaloes to a bowl game appearance and nine wins after a rough 2023 campaign.
He will now hope to back up his collegiate numbers in the pros and pull a Tom Brady in the NFL.