Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders and quarterback Shedeur Sanders (Troy Taormina-Imagn Images)
Shedeur Sanders fell in the 2025 NFL Draft, not in the first round, not in the second, third, or fourth, but all the way to the fifth round, being selected by the Cleveland Browns at pick 144, despite being considered a potential first-round pick.

It was the most shocking revelation of the entire draft.

It was even more shocking for Deion Sanders.

As quarterback Shedeur Sanders slipped in the 2025 NFL Draft, his father was taking the news quite hard. Deion reportedly cried for just the second time in his adult life.

Sources close to the Sanders family told FanDuel podcaster Skip Bayless that the Colorado head coach had not shed a single tear since his previously revealed suicide attempt in 1997. That was around the time his first marriage was coming to an end as he was attempting an MLB comeback with the Cincinnati Reds.

In the midst of his deep depression, he would drive his car off a steep cliff, only to survive without any life-threatening injuries.

Luckily, he would soon find faith and change his life forever.

Now, he is still here to see Shedeur Sanders prove his haters wrong.

As for Skip Bayless, he pointed to a moment where Deion may have contributed to his son’s slide when he told podcaster and former ESPN star Dan Patrick that there were ‘a lot of teams’ Shedeur didn’t want to play for.

‘He wouldn’t name the teams, but he said he would help navigate his son to the best fit for his son at the top of the draft,’ Bayless said as he referenced New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning and Eli Manning before the 2004 NFL Draft.

‘So yeah, Deion indicated he’d go Archie Manning on the draft,’ Bayless said, recalling the elder Manning’s efforts to prevent the Chargers from taking his son with the top pick. ‘Remember, Archie once navigated Eli out of San Diego to New York and the Giants. I still believe, as I said before, that that interview, those statements, were what most turned the NFL against Shedeur and Deion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEz61vxQjPI&ab_channel=TheSkipBaylessShow

‘That Deion dared to compare himself and his situation to the beloved first family of football, the Mannings, that’s when I believe the NFL pretty much said in colluding unison: ”Oh yeah, watch this Deion.”’

That is when Bayles claimed Deion cried over Shedeur Sanders’ tumble from Day 1 to Day 3.

‘That’s why Deion cried after the draft because he realized he’d just talked too much, too positively much, about his son’s potential greatness; that he, Deion, inspired too much jealousy and too much resentment and that that he helped put his son through a three-day ringer of shame.

‘I mean, he is Deion Sanders, Neon Deion, Coach Prime, anything he says will hit with 10 tons more impact than any other coach in this country,’ Bayless continued. ‘I’m talking college or pro coach. Deion knows that for a fact, so he cried over what his son had to endure over those three days, two nights, and a day.’

Shedeur Sanders Has A Real Chance To Bolt Himself Up The Browns’ Depth Chart

Shedeur Sanders (Candice Ward-Imagn Images)
The Cleveland Browns quarterback competition is a major NFL storyline after the 2025 NFL Draft.

Cleveland drafted two quarterbacks, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, and according to Cleveland insider Mary Kay Cabot, Gabriel will be ahead of Sanders on the depth chart when the Browns begin offseason workouts.

Cleveland’s quarterback situation has been one of the worst in the NFL, but it can prove to be great for Sanders.

Flacco and Pickett are on one-year deals and may not be back with the team in 2026. The team has already acknowledged that Deshaun Watson was a failure of a trade.

This bodes well for Shedeur going forward.