Big Shedeur Sanders fan in the White House.
The Cleveland Browns gave their rookie quarterback his first start of the season yesterday against the truly awful Las Vegas Raiders, after trading their starter from the beginning of the season, Joe Flacco, to divisional rival Cincinnati Bengals, and turning to rookie QB Dillon Gabriel midway through the season.
Of course the Browns also have alleged sexual predator Deshaun Watson on their roster, but he’s been out since midway through last season after tearing his Achilles and then having to undergo another surgery on the injury at the beginning of the year. The Browns gave the controversial quarterback a $230 million, fully-guaranteed contract, which was the largest in NFL history at the time it was signed back in 2022, which will surely go down as one of the worst contracts in NFL history and shows you just how competent the Browns are as an organization. But anyway, I digress.
Well the QB troubles for the team only got worse after Dillon Gabriel suffered a concussion against the Baltimore Ravens last week, giving former third-string QB Shedeur Sanders his first snaps of the season when he came into the game.
It wasn’t a great outing for Sanders last week, with his critics quickly pouncing on his one interception and zero touchdowns as proof that NFL teams were right to let him fall to the 5th round in the 2025 Draft. But Sanders defenders pointed out that he came into the game cold after getting zero reps with the first team during practice, and simply needed time and reps before being put under center.
Earlier this week it was announced that Sanders would indeed get the start (and the first team reps during practice) after Gabriel wasn’t cleared to return against the Raiders. And Sanders admittedly looked much better this week, throwing for his first NFL touchdown and leading the Browns to a 24-10 victory over the 2-9 Raiders.
After the game, Shedeur predictably took a victory lap while touting about his improved performance:
“Off of one week of practice, you know what I mean? This is one week of practice. So imagine, you know, what a full offseason looks like. It get dangerous.”
Shedeur wasn’t the only one gloating after his win though. President Donald Trump, who has been a vocal supporter of Sanders, took to Truth Social this morning to congratulate the rookie QB on his win:
“Shedeur Sanders was GREAT. Wins first game, career start, as a pro (for Clevaland). Great Genes. I TOLD YOU SO!”
Trump did, in fact, tell us so. Back during the NFL Draft, the president criticized teams who let the Colorado QB, and son of his friend Deion Sanders, fall to the fifth round:
“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!”
And Sanders said during camp this offseason that he was thankful for the president’s endorsement:
“I was truly thankful. I was truly thankful for it. Including him there was a lot of fans, a lot of people in barber shops, a lot of hairstylists, there was a lot of just fans of me and of my craft and of my family that was there to support. So I was just thankful that I have that foundation overall, just as people and we all could come together as one.”
While he already had the endorsements of the President of the United States, as well as apparently barbers and hairstylists, it seems that Sanders now has the endorsement of his team too: Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski announced earlier today that Sanders would remain the starter despite Gabriel being cleared to return.
Gotta think the President agrees with that decision.
