NFL’s All-Time Leading Rusher Puts Browns on Blast for Shedeur Sanders’ Situation

Excuse Shedeur Sanders for having some of the NFL’s all-time greatest players in his corner.

After all, those things come with the territory when you're the son of one of the sports’ most legendary players.

Count Emmitt Smith, the league’s all-time leading rusher, among those blasting the Cleveland Browns and their recently appointed head coach, Todd Monken, for not designating Sanders the team’s starting quarterback going into the 2026 regular season.

During an appearance on “The Up and Adams Show” from the site of Super Bowl LX, Smith absolutely tore into the Browns after Monken declared that Sanders’ role with the club for 2026 was “to be determined”.

Emmitt Smith went OFF about Shedeur Sanders.

Wowwww. @UpAndAdamsShow pic.twitter.com/7B14clALU2
— Kay Adams (@heykayadams) February 5, 2026

“What does Cleveland have?”, asked Smith rhetorically. ”Absolutely nothing. So, what’s the debate? Are you going to give it to Dillon [Gabriel] again? See, the one thing about players, they know who the captains are. And they know who the leaders are. And they know who they can believe in and who they trust in. It’s the organization, it’s the coaches. They have to get it right. You can name somebody a captain. But if they don’t have the respect of the team, they’re not truly a captain. Some people earn that right... Who’s the captain on the offensive side? Who believes in who? When you step onto the football field, how are the players responding to you versus someone else?

“I haven’t seen anyone else earn the right to be that but him. And he hasn’t played enough, and they haven’t given him enough chances to be on the football field. And when he’s on the football field, they feel better, they look better... The team believes differently. His energy is different. His swag is different. His level of confidence is different... He believes that he has the ability to do it. He’s not walking out there thinking that ‘Can I do it?’ or ‘Do I have the possibility to do it?’ No, ‘I’m gonna make it happen.’ That’s the way he’s approached it. And I appreciate it.

Smith went on to recognize Sanders’ upbringing as part of the reason why he’s better equipped to solve the Browns’ quarterback situation than others.

“I’ve known Shedeur since he was a kid. And I watched him grow. I know his training. I know his background. And I know where he comes from. He comes from a line of championships, that’s the way I would look at it. And years of experience at that position. He was trained that way. And he grew up understanding how to play the quarterback position from a guy that played in the National Football League. So I don’t question his ability to recognize coverages and his ability to manage and control the offense.

“Now, managing the offense is the key to every quarterback position. Not putting the ball in harm’s way is the key to how successful a quarterback can become. Shedeur, given the opportunity and working with him, as you would work with any quarterback. Drake Maye. Or as you would work with any quarterback in New York, any quarterback in Jacksonville, any other quarterback. Just like you would work with them and help them understand, that’s the approach you should take. Forget what he looks like. Forget how he walks. You want somebody confident. You want somebody who’ll step in and say, ‘I can lead the organization.’ And willing to take on the pressure. And manage all the questions that come his way like a professional. He don’t throw nobody under the bus, including his coach... I mean, what are we talking about?”

Sanders inadvertently became a huge component in Cleveland hiring a new head coach, as the team included a very specific question regarding his development in all interviews with the candidates for the job. The fact that the team chose to present this scenario with just him and not other passers for this specific part of the hiring process seems telling, and he should be considered the favorite to start the 2026 under center over Dillon Gabriel and Deshaun Watson.

What’s Shedeur Sanders’ Relationship With Emmitt Smith?

Smith stated he’s known Sanders since he was a kid, because Sanders’ father, Deion Sanders -- a fellow Hall of Famer -- was a teammate of Smith with the Dallas Cowboys for five years including one Super Bowl championship season in 1995.

Like Smith, other former players close to Deion Sanders have been very openly supportive of Shedeur Sanders’ incipient career, including Michael Irvin and Ray Lewis.