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The mother of Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders referenced her son in a mysterious Instagram comment on Friday after news that the rookie had been elevated to the team’s backup quarterback role.
Pilar Sanders posted a video of her in the kitchen making a massive seafood spread that included fried shrimp and lobster. The top comment on the post asked her, “are you cooking all that for Shedeur being named QB2?”
The mother responded with a cryptic statement.
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) warms up before the game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, on Sept. 28, 2025. (David Reginek/Imagn Images)
“For Shedeur’s yes – we know 2 has always been 1 – the matrix will try to make u believe anything hahahahah – never fall for tall tales,” she wrote. She did not clarify or specify what she was referring to.
Sanders, the son of NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, who coached him at University of Colorado, has been the subject of immense media scrutiny and speculation dating back to his drafting in April. After the Browns traded veteran quarterback Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals earlier this week, fans and pundits speculated whether Sanders would even be elevated to the second-string job, or remain in the third-string role behind Bailey Zappe.
The quarterback was the subject of one of the most shocking slides in NFL Draft history back in April, when he fell from a potential No. 1 overall expectation all the way to the 144th pick, in the fifth round.
The Tuesday before the draft, NFL Media released a summary of the top 18 prospects in this year’s class.
Sanders’ section included testimony from an anonymous assistant coach, who said that Sanders was “The worst formal interview I’ve ever been in in my life. He’s so entitled. He takes unnecessary sacks. He never plays on time. He has horrible body language. He blames teammates. . . . But the biggest thing is, he’s not that good.”
An anonymous longtime executive added, “It didn’t go great in our interview. He wants to dictate what he’s going to do and what’s best for him. He makes you feel small.”
NFL Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson stoked conspiracy theories related to Sanders 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.
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders walks off the field after an NFL football practice in Berea, Ohio, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
“I tell you this much, what I heard from someone that’s in the NFL [is] that the NFL told [teams] ‘don’t draft him, do not 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 out of him.’ And this came from a very good source, a very good source. They were going to have him not get drafted to basically show you ‘this is what happens when you do this.’ I mean, look, the NFL’s got all kinds of power. They do all kinds of stuff.”
Sanders’ slide out of the first round shocked many, including President Trump, who sent a post on Truth Social condemning the league’s owners for passing on the quarterback.
“What is wrong with NFL owners, are they STUPID? Deion Sanders was a great college football player, and was even greater in the NFL. He’s also a very good coach, streetwise and smart! Therefore, Shedeur, his quarterback son, has PHENOMENAL GENES, and is all set for Greatness,” Trump wrote. “He should be “picked” 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 who compared the situation to Colin Kaepernick being out of the NFL since 2016, suggesting “collusion.”
“‘This is a bad look for the NFL. This feels like Kaepernick-level collusion,'” Smith said of the content of the text, adding the situation goes beyond “talent evaluation.”
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(Left) Pilar Sanders attends the Bronx Charter School for the Arts 3rd Annual Art Auction Fundraiser at 1OAK in New York City on May 17, 2011. (Right) Shedeur Sanders (12) of the Cleveland Browns heads to the locker room prior to an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, on Sept. 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 watch as the OWNERS look like they’re colluding, messing up everything. What has been done to Shedeur will outshine everything else in this draft. We’ll never believe this is about just talent evaluation again.”
Sanders has yet to get into an NFL regular season game yet, but his first action could come as soon as this Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers if starter and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel has to come out of the game for any reason.
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