Manti Te'o Impressed By Shedeur Sanders' Maturity During NFL Draft Slide

All told, former Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders handled his adversity-filled NFL Draft weekend arguably better than anyone could've expected.

After entering the draft as a projected first-round pick, Sanders' name remained on the board entering the fifth round as five other quarterbacks were selected ahead of the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. To make matters worse, the 21-year-old son of Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich prank-called Sanders early in the second round while impersonating New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis.

It took until the fifth round for the Cleveland Browns to selected Sanders with the No. 144 overall pick, ending one of the most surprising draft slides in NFL history. Sanders will now compete with Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and fellow draft pick Dillon Gabriel for the Browns' starting quarterback job.

Apr 19, 2025; Boulder, CO, USA; Colorado Buffaloes former player Shedeur Sanders before the spring game at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Reflecting on the Colorado product's unexpected draft fall, former Notre Dame star linebacker and current NFL Network analyst Manti Te'o shared his respect for how Sanders managed the difficult three days. Te'o experienced his own NFL Draft fall in 2013, although his situation was marred by an off-field controversy.

"My respect for Shedeur Sanders has increased dramatically," Te'o said. "The reason why is I've been in that situation where I was told by certain individuals and certain teams that I wouldn't get past the first round. If I happened to get past the first round, it's not even in our paradigm, it's not even in our thinking.

"When I had my entire family over at the beach house that we had in Hawaii and we're expecting to be picked the first day, we have a whole luau going and the 32nd pick goes to Matt Elam to the Ravens and I'm not picked, I know how it feels to make that speech to your family and say, 'Hey, thank you for believing in me, thank you for being here to celebrate me. Hopefully it's tomorrow.'"

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Sanders experienced that awkward moment on Thursday when he remained unpicked after the first round.

"We all didn't expect this, of course, but I feel like with God, anything is possible," Sanders told friends and family attending his draft party in Texas, per Well Off Media. "I feel like this didn't happen for no reason. All this is, of course, is fuel to the fire. Under no circumstance, we all know this shouldn't have happened, but we understand we're on to bigger and better things. Tomorrow's the day, and we're going to be happy regardless. Legendary."

"My respect for Shedeur Sanders has increased dramatically."

Manti Te'o came away impressed with how @ShedeurSanders handled the Draft. pic.twitter.com/Pt52JWoIf3
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) April 28, 2025

Te'o was picked early in the second round by the then-San Diego Chargers, but his perspective on Sanders' fall remains unique.

"To watch Shedeur and now him and his family handle that situation, to watch him celebrate after he was drafted, my heart went out to him," Te'o said. "My respect went through the roof to see the grace. He always had a smile on his face. He was always just grateful for the opportunity. When he was picked, he was just so excited to be a Cleveland Brown. Shoutout to Shedeur on that."