Leading up to the 2025 NFL draft, multiple reports emerged about former Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders and his attitude toward certain NFL teams.
After the draft, several more concerning reports came to light about Sanders during the pre-draft process, but one stood out above all the others.
On Day 2 of the draft before the Cleveland Browns picked Sanders with the 144th overall pick in the fifth round The Ringer’s Todd McShay revealed the 23-year-old signal-caller had a troubling run-in with New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll that presumably led to the team turning its attention toward Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart, who they drafted 25th overall.
“Shedeur didn’t have a great interview with Brian Daboll in a private visit,” McShay stated. “An install package came in, preparation wasn’t there for it, he got called out on it, he didn’t like that. Brian didn’t appreciate him not liking it.”
FS1’s Colin Cowherd provided a little more context on the incident the day after the draft wrapped up.
“Another moment — teams will install mistakes intentionally planted in the install, and they want you to catch it,” Cowherd said. “Shedeur didn’t, and [the Giants] called him out, and once again, it didn’t sit well. It’s like bro, there’s not that many teams needing quarterbacks.”
For the first time since the reports emerged, Sanders’ father and former head coach at Jackson State and Colorado, Deion Sanders, addressed the rumors on Asante Samuel's “Say What Needs To Be Said” podcast, putting Giants head coach Brian Daboll on blast.
“My kids…you aren’t going to catch them in no foolery,” Deion said. “So when you sit up there and say something like he went in a meeting unprepared, like dude, Shedeur Sanders, who’s had six different coordinators, who has still functioned and leveled up every time we brought somebody new in, and you’re going to tell me he had on headphones?
“Anybody who knows my son understands he’s a professional. Like he’s going to go into a meeting with headphones on? Come on, man.”
While many analysts have confirmed what both McShay and Cowherd reported—four-time Pro Bowl QB Boomer Esiason reported a few weeks ago that multiple teams didn’t even have Sanders on their draft board because of incidents like what reportedly happened with the Giants—other have questioned if the validity of them.
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