Browns QB Shedeur Sanders attributes ‘99%’ of online scrutiny amid NFL Draft slide to father, Deion Sanders

Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders attributes his slide in the 2025 NFL Draft to negative opinions associated with his father, Colorado coach Deion Sanders. Projected as a potential Day 1 selection who slipped to the fifth round, Sanders recently spent a morning at John Marshall High School in Cleveland, where he said his game and star power appeals to a younger generation.

“They don’t care about other people’s opinion of you,” Sanders said during an interview with Cleveland.com. “They go based off their own — 99% of hatred [directed at me] 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.

“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’ draft experience is well-documented. His brother streamed much of his NFL Draft party, which included the raw emotion and initial shock of being skipped over for Louisville’s Tyler Shough at No. 40 overall in the second round, along with a prank call impersonating New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis. 

CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones reported Sanders’ draft slide was largely due to how he handled the process, from deciding not to throw at the NFL combine to sandbagging interviews with teams he had no intention of playing for at the next level.

During rookie minicamp this month, Sanders didn’t concern himself with explaining further why he fell to Day 3. Instead, his focus was solely on improving in practice and impressing Cleveland’s coaching staff.

“I just feel like in life and everything, it’s just me versus me,” Sanders said, per The Akron Beacon-Journal. “I can’t control any other decision besides that. So I just try to be my best self at all times.”

Deion claimed there were a plethora of “lies” on social media during the draft and repeatedly said the weight of negative opinions surrounding his son had significant ramifications with his stock. Prime Time in particular seemed to rub NFL franchises the wrong way in January when he mentioned the family had their preference of teams for Shedeur. 

“I know where I want them to go,” Sanders said previously on the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast. “There’s certain cities where it ain’t going to happen. … It’s going to be an Eli (Manning). We ain’t doing that.”