Oh, give me a break!
Shedeur Sanders, the former quarterback of Colorado and the son of the legendary Deion Sanders, relied on faith and prayer while he was sliding down the board of the NFL Draft. But supporters of his were on something completely different.
Whether he did it on purpose or not, ESPN superstar Stephen A. Smith helped stir the situation up that has led to a heated debate regarding if race played a role in Sanders‘ draft decline.
Smith put a spotlight on a text that he received from an associate who made comparisons between Sanders and Colin Kaepernick’s situation. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback has been out of the league since 2016 following his infamous protest of the national anthem. Smith agreed with his associate.
‘This is a bad look for the NFL. This feels like Kaepernick-level collusion,’” read the text, according to Smith, adding that this is more than just about “talent evaluation.” “All the hard work the NFL League Office puts in to eradicate these kinds of perceptions, only to turn around and watch as the OWNERS look like they’re colluding, messing up everything. What has been done to Shedeur will outshine everything else in this draft. We’ll never believe this is about just talent evaluation again.” (RELATED: NFL Draft Gets Started With One Of Greatest Trolling Jobs Ever, And It Involves President Trump)
Smith wrote in another post, “In a different way, this is Kaepernick all over again.”
Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool, issued a response to Smith saying that his opinion is “insane” and that it’s nothing more than just a “race take.” Portnoy also expressed “love” for Deion and also noted that Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward, who is black, was taken No. 1 overall.
“This is insane. All these race takes are insane. I love Deion. And I’ve been saying for two years Shedeur would be my first QB off the board. But NFL GMs, coaches, owners will do ANYTHING to win games, save jobs. The NFL is cut-throat. Owners would stomp on each other’s throats to win. There is no collusion,” wrote Portnoy.
“The first pick was a black QB. If teams thought Shedeur and everything he brings could help them win games more than guys available on the board, they’d draft him. That’s it. End of story. Every other narrative is fantasy.”
And the debate has been on ever since!
This is a damn disgrace. How in the hell is @Shedeur not off the board, not drafted yet. Y’all still think this doesn’t have anything to do with teams hatin on @DeionSanders. This kid is a first rounder. In a different way, this is Kaepernick all over again…..being kept out. A…
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) April 26, 2025
Someone just texted me this message and they are absolutely correct: “This is a bad look for the NFL. This feels like Kaepernick-level collusion.” All the hard work the NFL League Office puts in to eradicate these kinds of perceptions, only to turn around and watch as the OWNERS…
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) April 26, 2025
This is insane. All these race takes are insane. I love Deion. And I’ve been saying for 2 years Shedeur would be my 1st Qb off the board. BUT NFL gms, coaches, owners will do ANYTHING to win games, save jobs. The NFL is cut throat. Owners would stomp on each other’s throats… https://t.co/N2sTlmG4Er
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) April 26, 2025
Dave Portnoy already said what I had to say, so I’ll just keep it at that.
This article was originally published at dailycaller.com
