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Shedeur Sanders relied on prayer and faith during this historic sliding of the NFL draft.
But some of his followers bowed to something else.
The presenter of the ESPN star, Stephen A. Smith, helped to stir, whether intentionally or not, a heated debate about the role of the race in the drama of the Sanders Draft.
Smith revealed a text message from an associate who compared the situation that Colin Kaepernick was out of the NFL since 2016 after his infamous kneeling during the national anthem, in an X position. And Smith agreed with the comparison.
“‘This is a bad aspect for the NFL. This feels like a collusion at the Kaepernick level,” said Smith, the text said, adding that the situation goes beyond the “evaluation of talent.”
“All hard work that the NFL League office performs to eradicate this type of perceptions, just to turn around and see how the owners seem to be colluding, ruining everything. What has been done to Shedeur will eclipse everything else in this draft. We will never believe that this is just a talent evaluation again.”
NFL Draft Field Marshal errors that shape the league panorama
The field marshal of the Colorado Buffaloes, Shedeur Sanders (2), walks through the tunnel to obtain heating before Rocky Mountain’s confrontation against the CSU Rams in Folsom Field on September 16, 2023. (Andy Cross/Medaks Group/The Denver Post through Getty Images)
In a previous publication, Smith wrote: “In a different way, this is Kaepernick again.”
The founder of Barstool, Dave Portnoy, pointed to Smith with an answer, calling for the posture of “crazy” ESPN host and a “racing.” Portnoy claimed to express his “love” for Sheders’ father, Deion Sanders, in his response to Smith, and also pointed out that the first quartback taken was the Miami Cami Cam Ward Marshal, who is black.
“This is crazy. All these career shots are crazy. I love Deion. And I have been saying that for two years Shedeur would be my first QB out of the board. But the NFL GMS, the coaches and the owners will do anything to win games, save jobs. The NFL is a throat cut.
“The first selection was a black QB. If the teams thought that Shedeur and everything he brings could help them win games more than the types available on the board, they would write it. That’s everything. End of history. All the other narrative is fantasy.”
Other debates on the subject have been fiercely unleashed, unrealing deeply in the political sphere.
Earlier on Friday, even before Sanders passed the second and third round, former Democratic congressman Jamaal Bowman suggests more bluntly that has fallen because “the United States continues to fearing strong black men.”
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“NFL doesn’t like [Shedeur] Sanders, because wear gold chains and speak like a rapper. They do not care that he is a leader, intelligent, hard and has completed 77% of their passes without o-line and without a career game. Do you have the right, but Eli Manning was not entitled when he refused to be recruited by San Diego? “Bowman wrote in X.
“It is not Atlético, but that did not stop Joe Montana, Drew Brees or Tom Brady. America continues to fear strong black men who come from the media and have a strong sense of themselves without undergoing the” dominant “” culture.
Bowman’s original publication has received a community note that indicates the fact that the first selections in the last three drafts have been the black quarters.
The conservative filmmaker Matt Walsh mocked Bowman’s video with a new sarcastic participation in X.
The ESPN radio presenter, Peter Rosenberg, published a long -standing thread in X, arguing that the race has been a factor in the Sanders Draft slide.
“Some people (white) may not understand why the breed is becoming a conversation around Shedeur. It may or may not have something to do with what is happening here, but the relationship between the United States and the black athletes ‘blatant’ have a deep story. White America is historically angry and scared of men like Shedeur Sanders. Then, if that is happening here or not, the story can not disappear, “Rosenberg wrote.
Meanwhile, Sports presenter FTNT came to suggest that New York giants overlooked Sanders for Jaxson Dart because they “don’t like” black quarters.
“The giants do not like black QBs, this has been documented over time. In no way was a black QB with the personality of Shedeur Sanders unfortunately,” Becton wrote.
However, Becton’s publication also received a community note, pointing out the fact that they have two black quarters on their list.
The Campo de Colorado Marshal, Shedeur Sanders, speaks with the Mississippi Jaxson Dart field in the NFL Football Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
The conservative influence Robbie Starbuck ruled out the idea that Sanders was falling due to racism.
“Shedeur Sanders could end up being great and the teams may regret not having chosen it, but the idea that it has not been chosen by racism is simply stupid. The #1 selection in the draft was a black QB.
Sanders itself has not made any suggestion on race. Instead, they have published biblical verses and messages about thanking God.
After Sanders was selected on Saturday, the family published a video that shows a bustling celebration in their family home.
