Shedeur Sanders draft slide timeline: NFL executives cause media meltdown by rejecting polarizing prospect

The Shedeur Sanders media machine arrived in the NFL with a resounding thud this weekend.

Sanders’ collapse from potential No. 1 overall pick to 144th marked an unprecedented moment in NFL Draft history, and rocked the nation.

President Donald Trump called for Sanders to be “picked IMMEDIATELY” on Friday, just before the second round. 

But an NFL team did not select Sanders until Saturday afternoon, late in the fifth round. The Cleveland Browns ended the historic slide late in the fifth round, but by then, the national outrage had run its course.

Viral discourse on the subject ranged in topic from religious to racial. 

Here’s how it all went down: 

Tuesday, April 22: Trouble is revealed

Tuesday before the draft, NFL Media released a summary of the top 18 prospects in this year’s class. 

Sanders’ section included testimony from an anonymous assistant coach, who said that Sanders was “The worst formal interview I’ve ever been in in my life. He’s so entitled. He takes unnecessary sacks. He never plays on time. He has horrible body language. He blames teammates. . . . But the biggest thing is, he’s not that good.”

An anonymous longtime executive added, “It didn’t go great in our interview. He wants to dictate what he’s going to do and what’s best for him. He makes you feel small.”

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The quotes went viral, feeding into earlier rumors that Sanders had slid significantly down draft boards. 

But now, the notion that he could fall out of the first round had become widely acknowledged. Eventually, most betting platforms had Sanders at even odds to be a first-rounder. 

Wednesday, April 23: Insider suggests potential first-round drop

The night before round one, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones said on his network’s air, “I think that there’s a very good chance that [Shedeur Sanders] is not selected on Thursday night.”

Draft Day morning: Stephen A. Smith “sounds alarm” on first-round drop, as Shedeur prepares for “whatever” 

Stephen A. Smith acknowledged the possibility of Sanders falling from the first round during the draft morning episode of ESPN’s “First Take” and called the notion “appalling.”

“I’m trying to figure out is what the hell is the precipitous drop all about?” Smith said on ESPN’s “First Take” Thursday. 

“We know this brother can play. We know about whether he doesn’t have the greatest motor or the greatest arm. The accuracy is there. The poise is there. The pedigree is there. We see all of these things along with his skill set and what he’s been able to do on the collegiate level, and here we are now wondering if this guy is going to be a second-round pick. I find this very appalling and very alarming and very disturbing.”

Smith sent a warning to the mainstream sports public that morning over potential outrage that could emerge if all 32 teams were to pass on Shedeur Sanders that night. 

Later that afternoon, Sanders wrote on X, “I’m built for whatever today may bring.”

Draft Night, 9:08 p.m. EST: Saints pass on Shedeur, as family gets concerned

Sanders was initially projected as a candidate for each of the top three teams (Titans, Browns and Saints) early in the draft process, with the Raiders at six and the Saints at 11 as candidates, if Sanders were to fall out of the top three. 

But by the nine o’clock hour on Draft Night, all of those possibilities had officially passed him by, after the Saints took offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr., out of Texas. 

The nation watched ESPN and NFL Network broadcast shots of the inside of the Sanders family house, showing an entire shelf covered with all 32 NFL caps so he could pull one out and wear it for his big moment. 

At one point during the first round, his other brother, NFL safety prospect Shilo Sanders, insisted “something is going on” with Shedeur not being selected. 

Draft Night, 11:00 p.m. EST: Steelers and Giants pass on Shedeur, enraging ESPN expert

The Steelers became the team to which Sanders was most strongly linked toward the end of the draft process. Some experts, including NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah, believed that Pittsburgh could be Sanders’ floor in the first round at 21. 

But Pittsburgh passed on Sanders, taking defensive tackle Derrick Harmon, out of Oregon. 

That move left the quarterback with no clear path to be chosen in the first round, as the reality of falling to the next day came into focus for him and his family. 

Just four picks later, the Giants traded up with the Texans to get the 25th pick, for a quarterback, but it wasn’t Sanders. The Giants took Jaxson Dart, out of Ole Miss, who had been projected to go much later than Sanders in initial draft boards.

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And it seemed as the night got later, famed ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. got progressively and noticeably more irritated when Sanders wasn’t chosen. Mocking Kiper’s progressive irritation. 

Kiper’s irritation and affection for Sanders became one of the most mockingly discussed topics on social media throughout the draft, and was even pointed out by the social media account of the NBC-owned Pro Football Talk. 

Draft Night, 11:43 p.m. EST: Sanders officially falls out of the first round, NFL fans buzz with debate

It became official after the Chiefs used the 32nd and final pick on offensive Josh Simmons out of Ohio State; Sanders would not be a first-round pick. 

The 23-year-old quarterback took it upon himself to give a speech on-camera after that to acknowledge that it wasn’t what he or his family had expected. 

“We all didn’t expect this,” Sanders said, but expressed confidence that he would go on Day 2. 

Viral arguments began to spread rapidly across social media, as football fans fought on behalf of or against the validity of Sanders as a first-round prospect. 

Day 2, the morning after: The conversation turns racial

The morning after Sanders fell past the first round marked the start of a national obsession over the question as to why. 

The topic led every mainstream sports talk show across the nation, and the conversation began to branch out of just football.

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USA Today published a column titled, “Shedeur Sanders’ dramatic NFL draft slide seems deeper than pure football,” which claimed that the quarterback’s fall from the first round “feels weird.”

Then, former Democrat congressman Jamaal Bowman amplified the argument that Sanders had fallen in the draft due to racial reasons, posting a 10-minute video rant and stating, “America continues to fear strong black men.” Bowman’s video was later community noted to point out how many Black quarterbacks have been taken No. 1 overall in recent years, including this year’s with Cam Ward. 

Meanwhile, Shedeur’s father and college coach Deion Sanders broke his silence on the shock of his son slipping out of the third round in a post on X. 

Day 2, 4:52 p.m. EST: Trump calls out “stupid” NFL owners for passing on Shedeur

President Trump expanded the scale of the controversy with a simple social media post on Friday afternoon. 

Hours before the start of the second round, Trump weighed in on Sanders’ slide, supporting the quarterback and calling for him to be picked “IMMEDIETELY.” 

“What is wrong with NFL owners, are they STUPID? Deion Sanders was a great college football player, and was even greater in the NFL. He’s also a very good coach, streetwise and smart! Therefore, Shedeur, his quarterback son, has PHENOMENAL GENES, and is all set for Greatness. He should be ‘picked IMMEDIATELY by a team that wants to WIN. Good luck Shedeur, and say hello to your wonderful father!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. 

Some in Sanders’ family, including his brother Deion Jr., shared the president’s message, as it thrust the entire situation into the political sphere. 

Day 2, 7:44 p.m. EST: Saints pass on Shedeur again, leaving many experts confused

With Ward and Dart taken, the expectation became that Sanders would be the third quarterback picked and likely go high in the second round. No other prospect available at that point was realistically projected ahead of Sanders. 

But then the Saints made a very telling decision early in the second round with the 40th pick, needing a quarterback, they took Tyler Shough, out of Louisville. 

The 25-year-old Shough was nowhere near Sanders in early scouting reports. 

The football world was starting to realize they were seeing something unprecedented. 

Day 2, 9:30 p.m. EST: Shedeur suffers a ‘cruel’ joke after falling past the second round

The second round came and went without Sanders getting picked, so he waited in the third. The family’s draft experience was broadcast on Twitch, and at one point, Sanders was seen answering a phone call that he assumed was from a general manager making the decision to draft him. 

The quarterback had a big smile on his face as he answered and greeted the caller, with friends and family crowding around him. 

“I’m good, been waiting on you,” he said. 

But the imposter on the other side told the eager young athlete that he would “have to wait a little longer,” as Sanders’ smile quickly faded.

The caller was attempting to impersonate Saints general manager Mickey Loomis, a video posted by Deion Jr. later showed. 

The call left Shedeur and the whole family confused. 

“Nobody has that number but coaches, strictly for that reason. Why get mad? They want you to have a certain type of reaction to it,” He told his brother on the video. “They want you to feel bad. But I ain’t trippin’.”

Day 2, 11:20 p.m. EST: Round 3 ends with two more quarterbacks taken, as Shedeur’s slide becomes “unprecedented”

When the third round ended Friday night, ESPN’s Adam Schefter called Sanders’ draft slide “unprecedented.” 

Superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes even appeared to weigh in on the controversy with a simple tweet late Friday evening. 

The nation simply couldn’t believe that Sanders would be, at the earliest, the sixth quarterback taken in the draft, after Jalen Milroe out of Alabama went to the Seahawks at 92 and Dillon Gabriel went to the Browns at 94. 

Kiper said of the development. “I think it’s disgusting. I don’t understand what the heck’s going on with this,” Kiper said on ESPN. 

Meanwhile, Stephen A. Smith had already begun to compare the situation to Colin Kaepernick being out of the NFL since 2016 after his infamous kneels during the national anthem. 

Day 3, morning: A nation on edge, a family at ease

The Sanders family never succumbed to negativity in the public throughout the historic slide and cruel prank.

Shedeur himself thanked God several times, despite everything that was going on after falling past the third round. 

Deion Jr. made five X posts citing Bible verses dating back to Thursday, and was frequently re-sharing them as his brother fell in the draft. 

But outside the Sanders family home, the rest of the country was tearing itself apart over Sanders’ slide.

ESPN’s Booger McFarland had already succumbed to the argument that “It’s gotta be about more than football,” while NFL Network’s Joel Klatt pointed the finger at the narratives that were built about Sanders during the pre-draft process. 

“Shedeur represents everything I dislike about the NFL Draft, and it’s only one thing: It’s narratives. It’s narratives that are built up, lazy, and quite frankly, trash,” Klatt said. 

And the debate raged well beyond sports. 

Bartsool founder Dave Portnoy amped up online racial arguments over Sanders’ slide by responding to Smith’s Kaepernick comparisons on X.

ESPN radio host Peter Rosenberg posted a long-ranging thread on X, arguing that race had been a factor in Sanders’ draft slide. 

Conservative filmmaker Matt Walsh even got in on the discussion, scrutinizing Sanders and agreeing with his slide. 

Day 3, 2:15 p.m. EST: The slide ends, but the debate has only begun

Sanders was finally taken with the 144th pick on Saturday afternoon when the Browns ended the slide. 

Sanders’ family celebrated the pick with the same degree of enthusiasm had it occurred in the first round, streaming a boisterous group celebration on Twitch once the pick was announced. 

However, Kiper, Smith and countless other prominent mainstream sports media figures spent plenty of time after that continuing to passionately debate the slide. 

The racial conversations about the situation haven’t died down across social media. 

The Shedeur Sanders era is sure to be rife with national conversation for years to come. 

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