Shedeur Sanders, a fifth-round NFL Draft pick from Colorado and son of Deion Sanders, is currently one of four quarterbacks on the Cleveland Browns roster.
The team is reportedly planning to keep all four at the season’s start.
No team is obligated to keep a fifth-round draft pick on its roster, especially at a position in which they currently have more players than most rosters, but the Browns have seemingly made a good-faith move that gives Sanders a chance, at least, to become a backup quarterback.
That didn’t stop Fox Sports announcer Mike Hill from leveling serious allegations against the Browns and the entire league as a whole. Hill, who has filled the announcing role with Fox for well over a decade, says the way Shedeur has been treated is “disgusting.”
“I hope Shedeur Sanders will eventually end up on a good roster with a coach who wants and BELIEVES in him,” Hill wrote on X. “It’s so obvious this league, and even the Browns in a sense, have been trying to send a message to him since the draft & it’s downright disgusting.”
Anyone saying Shedeur sucks as a qb is exposing themselves. It’s so obvious they’ve NEVER really watched him play. The only stat they see and matters to them is his lineage.
— Mike Hill (@ItsMikeHill) August 23, 2025
Hill: Shedeur Sanders Haters are just Mad at His Dad
Hill went on to suggest that the people hating on Shedeur Sanders are just mad at his Pops.
“Anyone saying Shedeur sucks as a QB is exposing themselves. It’s so obvious they’ve NEVER really watched him play,” he seethed on social media. “The only stat they see and matters to them is his lineage.”
There aren’t many football pundits saying Sanders “sucks.” What they, and clearly scouts and executives across the league, have said is that the “me, me, look at me” attitude he brings to the table is a chemistry killer for any team.
Incidentally, this is a path Hill has gone down before. He adamantly defended Colin Kaepernick amidst claims that the NFL blackballed him over his flag protest, after the former 49ers quarterback opted for free agency, and was then dismayed that nobody wanted to sign a guy with circus-like media coverage who was more concerned about himself than his teammates.
And Sanders himself has agreed with Hill’s assertion on the Dad front, saying that the disrespect coming from the league is just an old folks’ response to his father.
“They don’t care about other people’s opinion of you,” the younger Sanders told Cleveland.com. “They go based off their own. 99% of hatred (directed at me) is toward Pops. And then I’m just his son.”
“It‘s just the older generation that does it to me rather than the younger people,” he continued. “Because when I come in person, there’s no negativity I see. But it‘s all over online.”
RELATED: Shedeur Sanders Blames Older Folks ‘Hatred’ of His Dad for His Own Negative Coverage
Does he have a Point?
While the excuses are heavy here, one wonders if Hill’s assessment of the Shedeur Sanders situation is a valid opinion.
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam made a surprising admission during a training camp media session earlier, awkwardly stating that he was not in favor of drafting the Colorado quarterback, instead blaming his general manager.
Then there was the draft night excitement – or lack thereof.
Former pro quarterback Boomer Esiason reported that three NFL sources confirmed that Shedeur Sanders was removed from their boards due to ownership directives.
They didn’t want him on their team. Period.
“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,” Esiason explained.
“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.”
Is this evidence that, as Hill states, the NFL is trying to send a message to Shedeur? And how long before his colleagues in the media make it a race issue?
Sanders struggled in the Browns’ pre-season finale, scoring the worst QB rating of all four who played in the game, and was subbed out with two minutes left by a guy they later cut.
