NEWYou can now listen to PK Press Club articles!
The mother of Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders referenced her son in a mysterious comment on Instagram Friday after it was announced that the rookie had been elevated to the team’s backup quarterback.
Pilar Sanders posted a video of herself in the kitchen preparing a huge seafood spread including fried shrimp and lobster. The post’s first comment asked: “Are you preparing all this for Shedeur to be named QB2?”
The mother responded with a cryptic statement.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PK Press Club
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) warms up before the game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan on September 28, 2025. (David Reginek/Imagn Images)
“To Shedeur’s yes – we know 2 has always been 1 – the matrix will try to make you believe anything hahahahah – never fall for stories,” she wrote. She did not elaborate or specify what she was referring to.
Sanders, the son of NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders who coached him at the University of Colorado, has been the subject of immense media scrutiny and speculation dating back to his selection in April. After the Browns traded veteran quarterback Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals earlier this week, fans and pundits wondered if Sanders would even be elevated to the second-string position, or remain in the third-string role behind Bailey Zappe.
The quarterback was subject to one of the most shocking slides in NFL draft history in April, when he fell from a potential No. 1 pick all the way to the 144th pick, in the fifth round.
The Tuesday before the draft, NFL Media Publication a summary of the top 18 prospects in this year’s class.
Sanders’ section included testimony from an anonymous assistant coach, who said Sanders was “the worst formal interview I’ve ever had in my life. He’s so entitled. He takes unnecessary sacks. He never plays on time. He has horrible body language. He blames his teammates. . . . But the most important thing is, he’s not that good.”
An anonymous longtime executive added: “Our interview didn’t go very well. He wants to dictate what he’s going to do and what’s best for him. He makes you feel small.”
NFL Hall of Fame Eric Dickerson fueled Sanders-related conspiracy theories in an August interview, claiming that NFL teams were “told not to” draft Sanders to “make an example” of the quarterback when he fell to the fifth round.
CAM NEWTON MAKES BOLD CLAIM ABOUT BROWNS PATTERNS AND HANDLING OF SHEDEUR SANDERS
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders leaves the field after an NFL football practice in Berea, Ohio, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
“I tell you this, what I heard from someone who is in the NFL [is] what the NFL said [teams] “Don’t draft him, don’t draft him,” Dickerson said in an interview on the “Roggin and Rodney” show on AM 570 LA Sports on Thursday.
“‘We’re going to make an example of him.’ And it came from a very good source, a very good source. They were going to make him go undrafted to basically show you “this is what happens when you do this.” I mean, look, the NFL has all kinds of powers. They do all sorts of things.”
Sanders’ elimination in the first round shocked many, including President Trump, who sent a message on Truth Social condemning the league’s owners for failing the quarterback.
“What is wrong with the NFL owners, are they STUPID? Deion Sanders was a great college football player, and he was even better in the NFL. He is also a very good coach, wise and intelligent! Therefore, Shedeur, his quarterback son, has PHENOMENAL GENES and is ready for Greatness,” Trump wrote. “He should be ‘chosen’ IMMEDIATELY by a team that wants to WIN. Good luck Shedeur and say hello to your wonderful father!”
ESPN host Stephen A. Smith revealed a text message from an associate that compared the situation to Colin Kaepernick being out of the NFL since 2016, suggesting “collusion.”
“‘It’s a bad look for the NFL. It looks like Kaepernick-level collusion,'” Smith said of the text’s content, adding that the situation went beyond “talent evaluation.”
(Left) Pilar Sanders attends the 3rd annual Bronx Charter School for the Arts fundraiser at 1OAK in New York on May 17, 2011. (Right) Shedeur Sanders (12) of the Cleveland Browns walks to the locker room before an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan on September 28, 2025. (Getty Images)
“All the hard work the NFL League Office puts in to eradicate these kinds of perceptions, only to turn around and see the OWNERS look like they’re in collusion and ruining everything. What was done to Shedeur will eclipse everything else in this draft. We will never again believe that this is just about talent evaluation.”
Sanders has yet to appear in an NFL regular season game, but his first action could come as early as this Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers if starter and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel has to pull out of the game for any reason.
