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Shedeur Sanders acknowledged the criticism he’s faced while he played at Jackson State and Colorado ahead of his decision to go pro and enter the NFL Draft and theorized about why he takes a ton of heat.
The spotlight was scorching hot last month when he fell to the fifth round of the draft after being projected to be taken as high as No. 2. The Cleveland Browns eventually took a chance on him at pick No. 144.
May 10, 2025; Berea, OH: Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) talks to a coach during rookie minicamp at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus. (Ken Blaze-Imagn Images)
He told Cleveland.com he thinks a lot of the hate directed at him is based on his father, Deion Sanders.
“They don’t care about other people’s opinion of you,” Sanders said of the younger generation while visiting a local high school. “They go based off their own — 99% of hatred (directed at him) is toward pops. And then I’m just his son. But (the kids) didn’t grow up in an era to where they watched him play. It’s just the older generation that does it to me rather than the younger people. Because when I come in person, there’s no negativity I see. But it’s all over online.
HALL OF FAMER BRIAN URLACHER REITERATES STANCE ON TRANSGENDER ATHLETES IN SPORTS: ‘COMMON SENSE’
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders, front, walks off the field after the NFL football team’s rookie minicamp in Berea, Ohio, on Saturday, May 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
“So, that’s why I say I like going (to schools) in person and actually meeting them, and any questions they have, I say, ‘Just ask me whatever question you want. Pick any question. No filter, no anything.’ That’s what they say. And then I just answer whatever they need me to answer.”
Sanders will be able to shut up some of the critics who have already written him off.
He enters a crowded quarterback room with veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett as well as someone from his own rookie class in Dillon Gabriel.
He signed his rookie contract earlier in the week. All eyes will be on him and his three teammates during offseason workouts.
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