This is exactly why Shedeur Sanders fell to the fifth round in this past NFL Draft.
Sanders will make his first career start in the NFL this week against the Las Vegas Raiders, and the Shedeur-hive is already formulating its list of excuses.
No matter how poorly Sanders plays, you can bet the fanboys and fangirls in the media will insist it wasn’t his fault.
This is especially true for former NFL insider turned full-time Shedeur apologist, Josina Anderson. Anderson spent this past Sunday embarrassing herself, live-tweeting every Sanders blunder with a defense.
Credit to Josina, though. She’s bringing sports outlets of all political stripes together.
“Josina Anderson’s obsession with Shedeur Sanders reaches creepy territory after Browns loss to Ravens,” wrote the far-left blog Brobile.
“Josina Anderson’s creepy obsession with Shedeur Sanders hits disturbing new low after Browns’ loss,” added Total Pro Sports.
Strange, indeed.
ESPN analyst Cam Newton also claims Sanders isn’t at fault for his poor play. According to Newton, his head coach is rooting for him to fail.
“I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: I do not think Kevin Stefanski wants Shedeur Sanders to succeed in Cleveland,” Newton said on ESPN Monday. “The reason being is, don’t tell me what he said, don’t tell me what he’s saying. I’m going off of actions, alright? Let’s go off actions.”
While Anderson and Newton are the most buffoonish in their shilling for Sanders, the list is long. Skip Bayless, Jordan Schultz, Ian Rapoport, and others also have an obvious emotional attachment to the rookie quarterback. As media reporter Ryan Glasspiegel noted during the game, “If you pay close attention, you can tell who texts with Deion Sanders.”
Whether it’s texting Deion, trying to appease Black Twitter, or simply grifting, there’s nothing Sanders can do that won’t cause Shedeur-hive to report for duty on Sunday.
“Help me formulate the top 10 excuses Shedeur Sexuals will roll out next week if Shedeur plays poorly,” Jason Whitlock wrote on X. “No. 1 will be he entered the game with the most pressure of any rookie QB in NFL history…”
Prediction: Josina Anderson will blame the fans for not supporting him enough, thus damaging his confidence.
As a backup, Shedeur Sanders’ job is to be ready when called upon. Yet his defenders claim the coaching staff sabotaged him by not giving him first-team reps in practice. While that excuse might sound valid to outsiders, several former NFL backups have explained that it’s nonsense.
“Everywhere I was, the backup rarely got #1 reps. I wanted all the reps when I was #1, and if the backup got any, it was a couple at the end of different periods!” Kurt Warner posted.
“Former 4th-round pick here… Former journeyman backup here… I think there is a massive misunderstanding about how an NFL practice is structured. The only time mid-round pick rookies and backups get meaningful reps is in training camp, and they are never with the ones unless you’re competing or starting that next preseason game,” added former NFL quarterback Luke McCown.
Moreover, Justin Herbert was in a nearly identical situation in 2020 with no first-team reps in practice. Herbert played well and never returned to the bench.
“Pepperidge Farms remembers when Justin Herbert got no snaps with the first team, then started and balled out against Kansas City because the doctor stabbed Tyrod Taylor in the lungs with a needle pregame. This Shedeur thing has made people lose their minds,” former Chiefs lineman Mitch Schwartz added.
Those pesky facts sure are inconvenient, aren’t they?
Shedeur Sanders isn’t a victim. He deserves to be covered and scrutinized like every other player in his position.
In fact, the media obsession and circus are to his disadvantage. He now has to prove his play is worth the headache and distraction. That’s no simple task.
Josina and company are hurting Sanders’ career just as much as Bayless hurt Tebow’s, or Mike Florio hurt Kaepernick’s. Teams don’t want backup quarterbacks with their own personal simps in the media.
And with every excuse and headline the Shedeur-hive provides, QB-needy teams are reassured they made the right decision by passing on him in the draft.
For Shedeur’s sake, let’s hope the simps can hold it together during his starting debut on Sunday and let the Browns evaluate him solely on his play. Unfortunately for Shedeur, that almost certainly won’t happen.