Former Super Bowl Champion Bashes Shedeur Sanders reaction to QB change

"You have to grow up" Former Browns player and Super Bowl champ had some harsh reactions to the recent Shedeur video.

Sep 21, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) warms up before the game between the Browns and the Green Bay Packers at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Shedeur Sanders is going viral right now for all of the wrong reasons in the past couple of days. After it was announced that Dillon Gabriel would be the Cleveland Browns' starting quarterback moving forward, many fans and members of the media were interested in seeing Sanders' reaction to the news. 

After the Browns named Dillon Gabriel their new starting quarterback, Shedeur Sanders reacted with a full mime:
pic.twitter.com/0qa23cpdOb

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 1, 2025

Sanders did not actually say anything, instead just mouthing all of his responses like a mime.

This caused an uproar among fans and the media, with some supporting Sanders, who argued that he doesn’t have to feed into any narratives or have his words misconstrued. Others criticizing the move, saying it was immature and ignorant, as it was causing undeserved attention to a third-string quarterback.

That person was former Super Bowl champion and 13-year NFL veteran Jason McCourty. McCourty appeared on the Jim Rome Show to discuss this viral incident.

“It is hard for a guy like the Shedeur where you're you've been a superstar for a majority of your life and you've been the one in the spotlight now the media showing up in the locker room and the only time they're coming to talk to you is not about your play is not about something you did and a game on Sunday it's more for reaction of what's going on around you.”

"No team in the NFL wants their third-string quarterback to be going viral for anything inside of the locker room."@JasonMcCourty wasn't impressed with Shedeur Sanders going full mime in response to Dillon Gabriel being named QB1 in Cleveland. pic.twitter.com/bDcm9wtSoI

— Jim Rome (@jimrome) October 1, 2025

It is a good point. As Sanders, it could be tough to get media attention when they are trying to elicit a reaction from you by discussing your teammates.

“No one, no team in the NFL wants their third-string quarterback to be going viral for anything inside of the locker, so I don't know what the reasoning is behind him doing the interview and not saying any words and just mouthing.”

McCourty ended off by giving Sanders some advice, acknowledging that the change from college football to the NFL is a tough one. However, unless Sanders cleans up viral, off the field moments like this one, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski could feel hesitant to trust him with the keys to the franchise.

“But I think there's a maturity to it that you got to grow up in the league, you may not always have the circumstances you anticipate or the ones that you want, but I don't think that those are the actions that you want possibly your future starting quarterback in the NFL to have at any point throughout the course of your career.”