Deion Sanders offered reassuring words to his son during the unexpected turn of events at the NFL Draft, saying “God got us” as Shedeur shockingly dropped to the fifth round.
On Saturday, the Cleveland Browns made a strategic move by trading up to snatch Shedeur with the 144th overall pick in the draft. This selection ended one of the most notable slides of the event, with the highly-touted Colorado quarterback falling beyond the second, third, and fourth rounds, sparking speculation about his potential return to college football.
Shedeur’s fall from grace was indeed startling; he was considered a top quarterback prospect and initially anticipated to be a first-round pick, which would have guaranteed a more lucrative contract. The 23-year-old, mentored by his father Deion at both Jackson State and Colorado, shared his father’s supportive words during the tense moments of the draft: “He said, ‘God got us.’ So that’s what it is,” recounted Shedeur.
“I look at what went on and everything as a football game, you know, you may not come out early hot, you know, that may not happen. But you know, when it’s down to the final two minutes of the game, then you understand the level of seriousness raises the stakes.
“All the stakes raised and that’s why I thrive in those high-pressure moments. So I never felt any type of way, I never felt any type of way. I understood, ‘okay, this is the route’ and that’s it.”
Despite expectations of being selected earlier, Shedeur maintained his positivity after being passed over until the fifth round of the draft. The Browns had considered him for the No. 2 overall pick but ended up choosing him later while also picking quarterback Dillon Gabriel in the third round.
Shedeur remained undeterred by the turn of events and expressed his resilience: “Nothing really affected me the last couple of days. You know, to just really push having faith and understanding, you know, God really had me and I’m favored, I’m blessed.
“Besides that, it’s not really anything that changed, the love of the game, is still the love of the game.
“When you get on the field, there wasn’t too much negativity being said. I know I gotta clean up some things in my game for me to be at my best, but that’s what I take each offseason one at a time and fix it. So I think that was just outside of football getting in the way. But therefore, I have an opportunity now. We’re about to get on grass really soon.”
Heading into preseason, Shedeur is determined to earn his place on Cleveland’s roster, with competition heating up in the quarterback arena. The team now holds Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Gabriel, Sanders, and Deshaun Watson, who faces uncertainty in the 2025 season due to a torn Achilles.
