Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) throws during day two of NFL rookie minicamp at the Cleveland Browns training facility on Saturday, May 10, 2025, in Berea, Ohio.

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Shedeur Sanders Sure 99% of the Hate He Receives Stems From This One Reason

Shedeur Sanders needs his football to do all the talking as he eyes a spot on the Browns roster

Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) throws during day two of NFL rookie minicamp at the Cleveland Browns training facility on Saturday, May 10, 2025, in Berea, Ohio.

Amidst much controversy during this year’s NFL draft, Shedeur Sanders was finally selected in the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns, thus giving him the opportunity to start his career in the NFL. Throughout the offseason, Sanders has been the target of negative publicity, hampering his image and causing an unprecedented slide during the NFL draft.

Having said that, Sanders has quietly gone to work with the Browns and will now look to prove all his doubters wrong as he faces an uphill challenge of becoming Cleveland’s starting quarterback. Thrown into a roster that has four other signal callers, Sanders has his work cut out for him on the field, but life off the field continues to be another struggle for the former Colorado Buffaloes’ star as he remains a constant figure of public hate.

Shedeur Sanders Opens Up About the Hate He Receives

Speaking to Cleveland.com, Sanders opened up about the hatred directed his way. Acknowledging the negativity around him from the media and fans alike, the 23-year-old believes that he is on the receiving end of such scrutiny because of who his father is.

Shedeur is the son of legendary former NFL cornerback Deion Sanders, also known as ‘Prime Time’, who has always been a polarizing figure in the NFL community. Sanders’ senior was one of the best defenders to ever step on the football field, but his way of life doesn’t suit everyone’s taste, and that, according to Shedeur is the root cause behind him being so hated.

Shedeur feels that most of the younger generation have never seen his father play, but their opinions are influenced by what the older generations think of his father.

“Ninety-nine percent of hatred (directed at me) is toward Pops. And then I’m just his son. … But (the kids) didn’t grow up in an era to where they watched him play … It‘s just the older generation that does it to me rather than the younger people. Because when I come in person, there’s no negativity I see. But it‘s all over online.”

Shedeur Sanders on hate his dad, Deion Sanders, gets, which doesn’t come from young kids he goes out to speak to #Browns pic.twitter.com/ap3oLlerTL
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) May 10, 2025

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Is Shedeur Sanders’ Claim Justified?

On the one hand, it is easy to see where Shedeur Sanders is coming from. Having a father who played at the highest level of the sport, won so much, and enjoyed an extravagant lifestyle has the recipe to attract unwanted and negative attention. It is also easy to see how several people could end up taking out their frustrations on the said superstar’s kids. Thus, the 2024 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award winner could have a valid point.

Yet, the criticism of Shedeur Sanders picked up steam following his interview sessions at the 2025 NFL Combine. Prior to the Combine, Sanders was in contention to not only be a first-round pick, but even the second overall pick.

However, it has come out that Sanders came off as arrogant and unprofessional during the Combine, and his decision not to participate in the on-field drills enhanced this belief.

Shedeur Sanders reportedly had Browns coaches “shocked” at his precision and accuracy with the short time they had with him at rookie minicamp.

Sanders reportedly was throwing the ball with the “touch” of a 10-year NFL veteran.

Sanders reportedly has “goals” of winning the QB1… pic.twitter.com/DTo3kUCKMY
— NFL Rookie Watch (@NFLRookieWatxh) May 19, 2025

Eventually, the hate directed towards him could potentially be a combination of both his own doings as well as his father’s personality, but if Sanders wants to change any public opinions about himself, then he needs his game to do most of the talking.

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Devavrat Kulkarni

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I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!