Shedeur Sanders may never stop being a national headline — the spotlight hasn’t dimmed since his arrival in the NFL. However, recently, his presence in the news has been more sporadic. Most notably, Sanders drew criticism after ESPN’s Adam Schefter revealed that he turned down an opportunity with the Baltimore Ravens on draft night.
“A consensus had been headed. The Baltimore Ravens were planning to select Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round with the 141st overall selection. But, when he found out, he got word back to the Ravens that he preferred not to go to a place where he’d be competing and backing up Lamar Jackson. He wanted to be in a place that he could play,” Schefter said.
That revelation drew strong backlash from former NFL quarterback Alex Smith.
“I think this is insane. ... At this point you're in the fifth round. I understand you had higher hopes, but you've dropped to the fifth round and you're thinking about being a starting quarterback the next year. I think this is incredibly shortsighted. ... You want to go to a good organization where you can develop and reach your potential,” Smith said on Sunday NFL Countdown.
After that controversy, Sanders kept a lower profile — until earlier this week, when he stirred things up again by taking shots at other quarterbacks.
“I know if you see the quarterback play in the league right now, I know I'm capable of doing better than that,” Sanders told the media.
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That statement quickly made headlines and didn’t sit well with some in the media — including those close to home. On ESPN Cleveland, Tony Grossi had harsh words:
“Shedeur can't help himself, he's been out of the limelight, he's hurting,” Grossi said.
Sanders’ remarks reignited national conversation, and Grossi believes it was a calculated move to get back into the spotlight — a tactic the media certainly ran with.
Since March, Sanders has been in the news for both positive and negative reasons. But recently, as an emergency quarterback, the attention hasn’t been as consistent. It now seems that, in order to stay relevant, Sanders may have decided to take matters into his own hands.