How Shedeur Sanders has handled Browns controversy with maturity and resilience

Shedeur Sanders was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, about three or four rounds later than what most experts predicted him to be taken.

But he did not bash anyone; he just celebrated with his family with the Browns hat on.

Shedeur has been the topic of many conversations on social media, TV shows, and podcasts, but how many of those topics were caused by him saying something directly? He will always be a topic because of who he is, a polarizing player with an NFL Hall of Famer as a father.

When Shedeur joined his dad, Deion Sanders, at Colorado, he was most see TV from the jump. That Colorado team was entertaining with Shedeur at quarterback, Heisman trophy winner Travis Hunter on offense and defense, and Deion’s other son, Shilo, at safety.

Much was made of Shedeur’s pre-draft interviews, multiple reports saying that Sanders was “brash and arrogant,” “unprofessional and disinterested,” “hit the wrong notes” in his combine interviews.

Former NFL coach and former Colorado offensive coordinator, Pat Shurmur, was quoted on Sanders, saying, “He's a wonderfully unique human being. He's got a big heart. I think of him, actually, in our conversations, as being somewhat shy. Being the son of an accomplished person like Prime, you're close to a lot of the stuff that goes with that.”

At the scouting combine, Sanders stopped to talk to every reporter who approached him after his scheduled news conference, including ESPN, which asked him if he was facing questions from NFL teams about his dad, per Kalyn Kahler of ESPN.

While Sanders has been in Cleveland, he has been nothing short of a coach’s dream. Earlier in the year, when Dillon Gabriel said, “There’s entertainers and there’s competitors, and I totally understand that, but my job is to compete,” A quote that made many people believe he was possibly throwing shade at Shedeur.

Sanders did not play into that narrative, though, saying, “I spoke with him, he said, “Nah, bro, that wasn’t”. He told me on the plane. He came up to me, he was like, “Nah, bro, that wasn’t at you, I see how they’re trying to spin it.” I’m not tripping. Regardless of whatever it was, I don’t…Nobody’s words or anything affects me.”

Recently, Shedeur has also put to rest any sort of question that may be pointing towards putting down his head coach, Kevin Stefanski.

A reporter askedSandersShedeur a question about Stefanksi, stating, “All your supporters say that Kevin Stefanski was sabotaging you..." Immediately, Shedeur stops him and says, “So you just want to start trouble, huh?", then backs Stefanski and talks about how their relationship has grown throughout the season.

The most recent example came from postgame comments yesterday, as another reporter asked him about Stefanski’s decisions on fourth downs. Sanders again defended his coach, saying, “First, that’s a rude question to ask,” “We not going to be here and ever point fingers at no coaches.” Finishing with his thankfulness for Stefanksi to trust the offense to try to get those fourth downs.

It may be too soon to say that Sanders is the future of Cleveland at the quarterback position, or that he is not. One thing you can commend him for is his willingness to put to bed any nasty rumors and not start controversy around his teammates or coaches.