Steve Harvey, most known for being a comedian, actor and tv host, is also a celebrity super fan of Cleveland Sports. Most notably the Cleveland Browns. During the opening monologue of the 2019 NFL Honors, Harvey introduced the world and his already existing fans of his Cleveland Browns fandom experience.
“I’m a die-hard Cleveland Browns fan. I was raised in Cleveland, Ohio. It’s been hard. Lord Jesus knows it’s been hard.”
In that moment, the outlook for Steve Harvey’s Cleveland Browns looked significantly more promising than it does in 2025. The core of Mayfield, Chubb, Landry, Garrett and Ward was intact with no indication that it would not continue. Fast forward to 2025 and Baker Mayfield looks like a top 10 starting QB for Tampa, Nick Chubb is starting for Houston, Jarvis Landry is no longer in the league with both Myles Garrett and Denzel Ward are holding down a good defense that is on the field entirely too long. Six years and 11 starting quarterbacks later and Cleveland finds themselves in another quarterback quandary.
Earlier this week Steve Harvey was a guest on the popular Pivot Podcast with Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder and Fred Taylor. They covered several topics but could not let an opportunity to pass to ask the Browns Celebrity fan his take on the Shedeur Sanders situation. As he did in 2019, Steve Harvey told the story of watching Jim Brown and the 1964 Cleveland Browns beat the Baltimore Colts from the living room floor of his childhood home. A home that was 3 miles southeast from the same Kinsman neighborhood that Shedeur Sanders hosted a charity event for just a few months ago.
Harvey did not waste time addressing the situation. Positioned as a “Hey Steve” segment, Ryan Clark asked for Harvey’s stance as a fan. “I’ve watched us win nothing since 1964.” Harvey would begin by running down the QB options. Claiming that Joe Flacco will likely end up injured because a 40-year-old man cannot run fast enough to elude the younger, faster, stronger players chasing him. Then he suggested they will put in a player “no one had heard of prior to draft day”. While Harvey’s sentiment is shared by many fans, it’s a bit of a stretch to suggest the starting QB (Dillon Gabriel) on the #1 team (Oregon) for much of the 2024 season is someone no one has heard of. Then, he turned his attention to Shedeur Sanders.
Steve Harvey decided to bring up a fan narrative that comes off as strange from a fan who claims to have watched as much football as Steve Harvey has. The four offensive lineman that got cut just days after Shedeur’s less than ideal showing vs the Los Angeles Rams in week three of the preseason. It’s an easy conclusion to reach, but is extremely commonplace in third-preseason games. The moment Shedeur Sanders was named QB3 for the third and final preseason game, it should’ve come as no surprise to anyone that Shedeur would be playing with offensive lineman that had long odds to make the final 53-man roster. The take is surprising from anyone who is not a casual fan because it happens every year for every team and is in no way Shedeur-specific. It’s been interesting hearing fans invoke this narrative like it wasn’t also true for Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Josh Dobbs, Jacoby Brissett, or Case Keenum.
The other fan misstep provided by Steve Harvey is the trade narrative. It’s almost understandable coming from a lifelong Browns fan, especially considering how Baker Mayfield has been performing for the Buccaneers. From Harvey, it doesn’t seem to come from a place of track record of trading QBs, it comes from a place of expecting a front office to make the wrong decision. Which the Browns have been consistent with. Where the trade narrative becomes a little ridiculous is its likelihood of happening.
The trade issue is not that Steve Harvey said it, or that any fan has said it. The issue is it doesn’t happen. As frequently as Cleveland has seemed to be willing to make the wrong decision, this one just doesn’t fit. No matter who said it. No rookie QB has ever been drafted, practiced with, or dressed for the NFL team that drafted him only to move him before he gets his opportunity to play. Not that it’s rare or doesn’t happen often, it never happens. No matter how much fans think it could or should happen.
“Now I am praying to God that Shedeur will get an opportunity to show what he can really do. That would probably be the best for him, but knowing the Cleveland Browns, they dumb (exp) is gonna trade him. Because QBs ain’t what we do.”
Short of Otto Graham between 1946 and 1955, Cleveland has never had a QB widely considered to be elite. Not even Brian Sipe or Bernie Kosar can make that claim. No team in all professional sports has had a more difficult time trying to fill one position as the Cleveland Browns have had with quarterbacks. That realization does not change the fact that trading Shedeur Sanders in 2025 simply does not make sense.
Pessimism and apathy are to be expected when one team has been historically bad for a quarter century. Following an 0-2 start that included a less than Ravens-like Joe Flacco, half the fanbase is ready to move onto the rookies. While the team will not officially confirm 2025 is a gap year, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that’s what 2025 is. Joe Flacco needs to get the team through the first six games. After which, the schedule becomes much less daunting. At some point they will sit Flacco and move to Dillon Gabriel. If the team does not have a playoff win total trajectory, as no one expects they will, Gabriel will get a sample size of starts and so will Sanders. As part of a larger evaluation prior to the 2026 offseason.
If Sanders does not get an “opportunity to show what he can really do” as Harvey stated on the Pivot Podcast, then the Browns coaching staff, front office and ownership will have a lot to answer for. As all three aspects of the organization have publicly confirmed as much multiple times.
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