Two weeks after the draft, Sanders reported for duty in Cleveland and said he was trying to put his draft experience behind him.
“I don’t even try to think about that day,” he said. “I’m just excited to be here and ready to work.
“My job here isn’t to prove people wrong, it’s to prove myself right.”
From the moment he arrived, his every move has been scrutinised. The amount of attention is unprecedented for a fifth-round draft pick and Sanders erred in June as he was caught speeding twice in two weeks in Ohio.
The Browns’ general manager Andrew Berry said it was “just not smart, and it’s something that we’ve addressed with him”.
Since then, Sanders’ attitude has been praised by his new team-mates. He has been arriving early for practice and leaving late, and attended several community events, hosting one himself after a fatal apartment fire, external in Cleveland.
Team owner Jimmy Haslam said: “I know everybody has a vision of Shedeur, but he’s come in the building, worked hard, kept his head down and done what he’s supposed to do.”
Other teams may have been put off by the ‘circus’ that surrounds Sanders – which includes his outspoken father – but Shedeur told Deion to stay away from the Browns’ training camp.
“I want to get where I want to go, then for him to see me,” he said. “I want everything to be focused and I don’t want any distractions.”
Because of poor luck and judgement, Cleveland have had a wretched run with quarterbacks over the past few seasons so are desperate to find a solution.
Sanders is up against new signing Kenny Pickett, veteran Joe Flacco and rookie Dillon Gabriel, one of five QBs drafted before Sanders, and media pored over their training statistics to get an idea of how they will rank in the Browns’ depth chart.