Back in April, Shadeur Sanders’ NFL Draft slide to the fifth round shocked fans and media talking heads. With so many teams passing on the dynamic signal caller, it felt like there was a league-wide memo to not draft the former Colorado quarterback.
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Hall of Fame NFL running back Eric Dickerson says that’s EXACTLY what happened, per a “very good source.”
“What I heard from someone that’s in the NFL, that the NFL told [teams] dont draft him, do not draft him,” Dickerson told LA sports radio’s “Roggin and Rodney Show.”
Much was made about how Sanders handled the NFL draft process. The quarterback skipped out on drills at the scouting combine in Indianapolis, and limited his interviews to seven teams, allegedly approaching the draft like a recruitment instead of a job interview. Dickerson says teams sought to “make an example out of him” because of this untraditional approach.
“He was not gonna get drafted, to basically show you this is what happens when you do this,” he said.
Eventually, the Cleveland Browns selected Sanders in the fifth round. But Dickerson says it wasn’t because of a sudden change of heart.
“I won’t say who — somebody called the Cleveland Browns and said, ‘Don’t do that, draft him,’” Dickerson said. “Because they weren’t going to draft him, either…They were forced into drafting him, because somebody made a call to them.”
A league-wide conspiracy targeted around one player may seem far-fetched, but it’s not impossible. In fact, an arbitrator found in June that the NFL encouraged collusion around guaranteed money in contracts following Deshaun Watson’s record breaking contract from the Browns. Many have also accused NFL owners of conspiring to keep former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick out of the league after he protested police brutality and social injustice by kneeling during the national anthem.
Now, Dickerson’s comments have some fans are accusing the NFL of “blackballing” Sanders.
Another fan says Dickerson “said what we already knew.”
If collusion happened, the big question is how high it went up. Was it NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell pulling the strings, or someone else?
Still, some are skeptical of Dickerson’s story, citing Sanders’ reported poor interview process.
Sanders is currently sitting low on the Cleveland Browns depth chart, with reports indicating three other quarterbacks — including rookie Dillon Gabriel — are ahead of him for reps and opportunities to see the field. In the Browns third preseason game Saturday, Sanders was pulled in the final two minutes of the game for recently acquired backup Tyler Huntley.
Sports journalist Mike Hill hopes that Sanders gets more opportunities in the future, even if it’s with a different team.
The Cleveland Browns have announced Joe Flacco as the starting quarterback for Week 1 against the Bengals on Sept. 7. How long that lasts will be a saga the football world will be watching closely, as Sanders fights to show he may be delayed, but won’t be denied.
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