Former ESPN commentator and social justice activist Jemele Hill had a surprising response to Shedeur Sanders slipping to the fifth round in the NFL draft over the weekend, denying claims that race or attitude had anything to do with it.
As Breitbart News reported, Sanders was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round, No. 144 overall, this past weekend despite heavy prospects after a successful season as quarterback for Colorado. According to sports commentator Boomer Esiason, NFL owners “torpedoed” his draft chances due to his alleged arrogance and entitlement.
“When you listen to this kid talk, right prior or at the combine, about how if you want a new culture in your locker room, I’m the guy to do that, I can turn it around, he’s very high on himself, and I think he’s very off-putting to many, many coaches and general managers in the league,” Esiason said on his WFAN show.
“I’m telling you right now, and I know this after talking to three different personnel people in the NFL this weekend, they didn’t even have him on their board. They took him off, and they took him off because the owner said, ‘Take him off, I don’t want that guy. I don’t want this … entitled person on our team,’ and I don’t blame them,” he added.
Jemele Hill rejected that narrative during an interview on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz on Tuesday and said that Sanders likely fell short because NFL owners and coaches sensed an issue with his talent.
Columnist Jemele Hill offered her own take on Shedeur Sanders’ draft slide over the weekend as he fell to the fifth round and was taken by the Cleveland Browns.
“The bottom line is maybe we should accept the fact — and this is not to say that Shedeur Sanders cannot go on to have a great NFL career, can’t do great things — but maybe we, as Black people need to accept the fact that Deion Sanders may have overplayed his hand a little bit,” Hill said. “And there’s no crime in him infusing all the confidence in Shedeur. I was not bothered by the wrist flexing, none of that. NFL teams, if you’re talented enough, they don’t care. And we have seen this countless times.”
Hill noted that the Baltimore Ravens selected defensive end Mike Green in the first round despite previous accusations of sexual assault.
“In the NFL, they make these talent decisions all the time, but if the talent is worth it, they don’t give a damn if he showed up in gold-plated everything, flashing whatever, as long as you can play. That’s all they care about,” she said.
Hill felt the drama about Sanders overshadowed great No. 1 draft picks like Cam Ward.
“But the person I really feel sorry for is Cam Ward. Cam Ward went No. 1. Cam Ward was a zero-star recruit from a two-parent home — because you know how we like to throw that around on some respectability type of stuff,” Hill said. “He is a fantastic player, confident, did all the things, drafted No. 1, and with the way people have so embraced this narrative that Shedeur was done so wrong, it’s like they’re basically making Cam Ward sound like he’s Steven from ‘Django.’
“And I’m like, you don’t even know this kid! Suddenly, he’s painted in this light because, ‘Oh, the NFL will accept that type of Black but not this type of Black.’ It’s like, do you know how many players, how many Black players, went ahead of Shedeur Sanders? It’s a lot of them,” she added.
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