Shedeur Sanders, son of football Hall of Fame NFL cornerback/nine-year MLB outfielder Deion Sanders, played his first-ever regular season NFL contest on Sunday, when his Cleveland Browns installed him as their second-half starter after signal caller Dillon Gabriel was placed into the league's concussion protocol.
MORE: Shannon Sharpe blasts Browns for Shedeur Sanders' decision amid NFL debut
But what should have been a triumphant moment (regardless of his on-field performance) was quickly clouded by a disturbing development off the field.
Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN reports that Shedeur Sanders' home was broken into during the game, a 23-16 defeat. Sanders connected on just 4-of-16 passes for 47 total yards. He was picked off once and sacked twice.
A worrying trend
As Oyefusi notes, home break-ins for active players has become a borderline epidemic across the sports world. Then-Dallas Mavericks (now-Los Angeles Lakers) All-NBA First Team guard Luka Doncic, Cincinnati Bengals Pro Bowl quarterback Joe Burrow, and Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl champions Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce have all been hit with home break-ins during games within roughly the last year.
Per Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, Sanders will get another shot at a starting role next week against the Las Vegas Raiders, provided Gabriel doesn't clear concussion protocol in time.
Sanders was selected with the No. 144 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft out of Colorado, and was expected to be a long-term project on a team that at the time had several quarterbacks ostensibly ahead of him in line.
For now, at last, he's the guy — at least in the short-term.
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