Shedeur Sanders is not a victim of racial bias by NFL teams.
His dramatic fall in last week’s NFL Draft is not a case of a Black quarterback being discriminated against fundamentally because of the color of his skin.
Conversely, if one were to believe several reports from various quarters of the media, Sanders — the former University of Colorado star who was projected by a multitude of NFL talent evaluators and analysts to be selected in the first round — became trapped in an unforeseen gravitational pull because of perceived character flaws. Ultimately, he was not picked until the fifth round, at No. 144.
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Conjecture is the 23-year-old son of NFL Hall of Famer and University of Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, under his father’s advice and direction, intentionally presented himself poorly in meetings and interviews with unconfirmed teams with the objective of dissuading those teams from drafting him, thus attempting to manipulate and dictate the process.
Without any immutable evidence to support this claim, this writer views this surprising draft outcome as a case of NFL power dynamics. Shedeur’s ability and disposition are subjective. He was passed over until late in the draft because teams were wary of the combined influence Deion and Shedeur have and possibly would exercise in bending public perception to their will. Without an intentional strategic effort to shape perspectives, opinions leaned in their favor that Shedeur was wronged and the NFL engaged in unspoken collusion to humble them. Ambiguously delivering a stern warning that the so-called NFL shield is sovereign.
Both Deion and Shedeur are among the most popular personalities in sports and the quarterback position is the most consequential and challenging to fill. NFL executives and coaches are perpetually engaged in power struggles and all desire near absolute control.
Having a rookie quarterback who could create a groundswell of support from millions of fans and by extension gain a measure of power is a scenario that key decision makers almost assuredly considered.
Would they feel pressured to play Shedeur before they deem him to be ready or determine him to have earned the QB1 spot in the face of struggles by the incumbent starter? Would coaches and general managers be looking over their shoulder at the possibility of Deion subtly and artfully injecting his weighty voice into important aspects of a team’s operations, including perhaps as an NFL head coach in waiting?
A reliable index of Shedeur’s prominence is that as of yesterday, his Browns jersey was the third-highest selling of all draftees behind his close friend and former college teammate, Travis Hunter, who was selected No. 2 by the Jacksonville Jaguars and another good friend and training partner, quarterback Cam Ward, who was the No. 1 pick by the Tennessee Titans.
The first chapter of the story of Shedeur Sanders’ NFL career has been written.