Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy clapped back at Stephen A. Smith for insinuating that Shedeur Sanders’ NFL Draft slide could be due to “collusion” amongst team owners.
Despite being viewed by fans and pundits alike as a first-round talent entering the 2025 NFL Draft, Sanders had to wait until the fifth round to hear his name called – eliciting a strong response from his dad, Deion Sanders. The Colorado product was selected by the Cleveland Browns with the No. 144 overall pick, but not before he fell victim to a cruel prank call on Day 2.
Over the last three days, droves of people have provided their two cents in an attempt to explain Sanders’ unprecedented fall down the draft board. Some have attributed it to the 23-year-old’s poor interviews with teams, while others claimed it was because of the potential off-field distraction that Deion would create.
Taking to social media, Smith likened the situation to the alleged blacklisting of fellow quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who last played in an NFL game eight years ago despite making several comeback attempts.
“This is a damn disgrace. How in the hell is @Shedeur not off the board, not drafted yet,” he wrote on X. “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!”
In a separate post, Smith added: “Someone just texted me this message and they are absolutely correct: ‘This is a bad look for the NFL. This feels like Kaepernick-level collusion.’ All the hard work the NFL League Office puts in to eradicate these kinds of perceptions, only to turn around and watch as the OWNERS look like they’re colluding, messing up everything.
“What has been done to Shedeur will outshine everything else in this draft. We’ll never believe this is about just talent evaluation again.”
The sentiment expressed by Smith did not sit well with Portnoy, who slammed the ESPN pundit for his “fantasy” narrative arguing that Sanders may not have been drafted earlier because of his race. “This is insane. All these race takes are insane,” he replied.
DON’T MISS:
“I love Deion. And I’ve been saying for 2 years Shedeur would be my 1st Qb off the board. BUT NFL gms, coaches, owners will do ANYTHING to win games, save jobs. The NFL is cut throat. Owners would stomp on each other’s throats to win. There is no collusion. The 1st pick was a black Qb.
“If teams thought Shedeur and everything he brings could help them win games more than guys available on the board they’d draft him. Thats it. End of story. Every other narrative is fantasy.”
