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The mother of Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders referenced her son in a mysterious Instagram comment Friday following news that the rookie had been elevated to the team’s backup quarterback role.
Pilar Sanders posted a video of her in the kitchen preparing a huge variety of seafood including fried shrimp and lobster. The top comment on the post asked, “Are you cooking up all that for Shedeur to be named QB2?”
The mother responded with a cryptic statement.
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) warms up before the game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan on September 28, 2025. (David Reginek/Imagn Images)
“For Shedeur, yes we know that 2 has always been 1, the matrix will try to make you believe anything hahahaha, never fall for tall tales,” he wrote. He did not clarify or specify what he was referring to.
Sanders, the son of NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, who coached him at the University of Colorado, has been the subject of immense media scrutiny and speculation dating back to his selection in April. After the Browns traded veteran quarterback Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals earlier this week, fans and pundits speculated whether Sanders would be elevated to the second-string role or remain in the third-string spot behind Bailey Zappe.
The quarterback was subject to one of the most shocking drops in NFL Draft history in April, when he fell from a possible No. 1 overall pick to the 144th pick in the fifth round.
The Tuesday before the draft, NFL media released a rundown of the top 18 prospects in this year’s class.
Sanders’ section included testimony from an anonymous assistant coach, who said Sanders was “the worst formal interview I’ve ever been in. He’s so entitled. He takes unnecessary sacks. He never plays on time. He has horrible body language. He blames his teammates… But the bottom line is he’s not that good.”
An anonymous longtime executive added: “He didn’t go very well in our interview. He wants to dictate what he’s going to do and what’s best for him. He makes you feel small.”
NFL Hall of Fame Eric Dickerson fueled Sanders-related conspiracy theories in an interview in August, claiming that NFL teams were “told not to” draft Sanders to “make an example” of the quarterback when he fell to the fifth round.
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders walks off the field after an NFL football practice in Berea, Ohio, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
“I tell you this, what I heard from someone who is in the NFL [is] What the NFL told him [teams] ‘Don’t draft him, don’t draft him,'” Dickerson said in an interview on “Roggin and Rodney” on AM 570 LA Sports on Thursday.
“‘Let’s make an example of him.’ And this came from a very good source, a very good source. They were going to make him go undrafted to basically show you ‘this is what happens when you do this.’ I mean, look, the NFL has all kinds of power. They do all kinds of things.”
Sanders’ fall in the first round surprised many, including President Trump, who sent out a post on Truth Social condemning the league’s owners for ignoring the quarterback.
“What’s wrong with NFL owners? Are they STUPID? Deion Sanders was a great college football player and was even better in the NFL. He’s also a very good coach, smart and smart! So Shedeur, his quarterback son, has PHENOMENAL GENES and is ready for greatness,” Trump wrote. “He should be “picked” IMMEDIATELY by a team that wants to WIN. Good luck, Shedeur, and say hello to your wonderful father!”
ESPN host Stephen A. Smith revealed a text message from an associate who compared the situation to Colin Kaepernick being out of the NFL since 2016, suggesting “collusion.”
“‘This is a bad look for the NFL. This feels like Kaepernick-level collusion,'” Smith said of the content of the text, adding that the situation goes beyond “talent evaluation.”
(Left) Pilar Sanders attends the Bronx Charter School for the Arts’ third annual fundraising auction at 1OAK in New York City on May 17, 2011. (Right) Shedeur Sanders (12) of the Cleveland Browns heads to the locker room before an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, on September 28, 2025. (Getty Images)
“All the hard work the NFL League Office does to eradicate these types of perceptions, only to turn around and see how the OWNERS seem to be colluding, ruining everything. What they have done to Shedeur will eclipse everything else in this draft. We will never again believe that this is simply about talent evaluation.”
Sanders has yet to enter an NFL regular-season game, but his first action could come as soon as this Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers if starter and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel has to leave the game for any reason.
