Shedeur Sanders, the son of NFL legend Deion Sanders, was selected by the Cleveland Browns during the fifth round of the NFL Draft after slipping during the previous rounds.
The Browns were reported to have traded up, taking him “144th” overall, according to the New York Post. The Browns selection of Shedeur makes him the second quarterback the team selected in the NFL’s draft, after Dillon Gabriel was drafted in the third round.
Other quarterbacks on the team include Joe Flacco, who has previously played for the Baltimore Ravens, the Denver Broncos, and the New York Jets, as well as Kenny Pickett and Deshaun Watson.
During a press conference, Browns General Manager Andrew Berry explained that it “wasn’t necessarily the team’s plan “to select two quarterbacks during the draft, but added that the team loves “adding competition to every position room.”
“It wasn’t necessarily the plan going into the weekend to select two quarterbacks, but as we talk about, we do believe in best player available,” Berry said. “We do believe in positional value, and we didn’t necessarily expect him to be available in the fifth round, and so we love adding competition to every position room, and adding him to compete with the guys that are already in there — we felt like that was the appropriate thing to do.”
In response to Shedeur’s not being selected in the first round of the NFL draft, President Donald Trump criticized the NFL owners, questioning whether they were “stupid.”
“What is wrong with NFL owners, are they STUPID?” Trump wrote in Truth Social post. “Deion Sanders was a great college football player, and was even greater in the NFL. He’s also a very good coach, streetwise and smart! Therefore, Shedeur, his quarterback son, has PHENOMENAL GENES, and is all set for Greatness. He should be ‘picked’ IMMEDIATELY by a team that wants to WIN. Good luck Shedeur, and say hell to your wonderful father!”
Former Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) also criticized the NFL after Shedeur was not selected during the first round of the draft, claiming that it was due to racism.
Shedeur has previously played football as the starting quarterback for the Colorado Buffaloes at the University of Colorado Boulder and has played as the quarterback at Jackson State University.
