Shedeur Sanders has experienced one of the most shocking NFL Draft slides of all time, and some people believe team owners are colluding against the former Colorado star. Stephen A. Smith is leading the charge when it comes to that belief.
Sanders fell out of the first round of the draft on Thursday night, which is an outcome that had seemed more likely in recent weeks. What almost no one saw coming was Sanders still being available when the fourth round began on Saturday.
As Sanders continued to fall down the board during the third round on Friday night, Smith took to social media to blast NFL owners. He called the situation a “disgrace” and said Sanders is being “kept out” of the league.
“This is a damn disgrace. How in the hell is @Shedeur not off the board, not drafted yet. Y’all still think this doesn’t have anything to do with teams hatin on @DeionSanders. This kid is a first rounder. In a different way, this is Kaepernick all over again…..being kept out. A damn disgrace. I don’t care what anyone says!” Smith wrote on X.
This is a damn disgrace. How in the hell is @Shedeur not off the board, not drafted yet. Y’all still think this doesn’t have anything to do with teams hatin on @DeionSanders. This kid is a first rounder. In a different way, this is Kaepernick all over again…..being kept out. A…
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) April 26, 2025
There is one way that the situation could be similar to what we saw with Kaepernick. Largely because his father Deion is a Hall of Fame football player, college coach and larger-than-life personality, Sanders demands a great deal of media attention. What has likely happened is that teams do not view Shedeur as being good enough to justify putting up with the media circus that would go along with drafting him. The same has been true for Kaepernick.
Another situation that comes to mind is what we saw years ago with Tim Tebow. The former Florida star was probably better than most NFL backups at one point, but most teams did not want a huge spotlight following their backup quarterback around.
Time will tell if all of the teams that passed on Sanders multiple times made a mistake. Longtime ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. seems to think one team will strongly regret it if they don’t draft Sanders.
