Deion Sanders, Shedeur 'Out Of Control' Claims NFL Legend Cris Carter

Much has been made about former Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders falling into the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, ultimately landing with the Cleveland Browns. While his position in the draft is no longer quite relevant, one NFL legend was rather critical of Sanders and his father, Deion Sanders.

A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, legendary wide receiver Cris Carter revealed his opinions on Sanders' fall in the draft on his podcast "Fully Loaded," and he called some of the Sanders family's decisions before the drafts mistakes.

"But Shedeur and his famly overplayed his hand. Them thinking that he was in the same evaluation mode as Eli Manning, they didn't play that right. Them trying to narrow the teams that he was going to go to, that didn't go right. Not working out at the combine, that wasn't the right thing. His interview process obviously he could've done a lot better in that," Carter said.

Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) walks off the field before the game against Oregon State Beavers — Nov 4, 2023; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) walks off the field after warmups before the game against Oregon State Beavers at Folsom Field. | Chet Strange-Imagn Images

Carter is only expressing his opinion, but he clearly believes that Shedeur Sanders negatively affected his own draft stock with his own choices. The criticism didn't stop there as Carter questioned some of Sanders' actions off of the field leading up to the draft. The Hall of Famer emphasized the importance team culture and the locker room.

"Well, you don't play football all the time," Carter said. "You're a human being the rest of the time, and how you're going to be in the locker room, how he already came up with this line of merchandise, Legendary. Like's already calling himself legendary. All those things are problems."

"Something these kids never understand. Even if you're a top-10 pick, you're in the NFL for a long time. So your interview, your tape, people in the room, they see you. Someone can like you in the room, they might not draft you. Five, 10 years later? It's a small world," continued Carter.

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There were reports of Sanders coming unprepared to an interview with the New York Giants, and Carter implied that such performances can have an impact later on in a player's career.

"This whole thing with Deion and the media and everything, it's out of control. Like it did not help him (Sanders)," said Carter.

Again, Carter's opinion is one of many on the topic. Shortly after Sanders was drafted by Cleveland, Browns defensive back Denzel Ward reached out to his newest teammate on social media: "Time to Be Legendary! Let's do it!" Ward wrote online.

Jan 14, 2018; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings former wide receiver Cris Carter on the sidelines prior to the game against the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Divisional Playoff football game at U.S. Bank Stadium. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

During the draft, some online were questioning if the league was colluding against Sanders as some form of punishment, but Carter disagrees there.

"The number one thing that didn't happen was there was not a collusion message with the NFL owners," said Carter. "Because they wouldn't be able to keep a secret like that. They wouldn't be able to shut up about it, but every owner is very very selfish. 'Now, why would I do something to my detriment. Like if I need a quarterback, and I think this kid is it?'"