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Skyeseur Sanders leaned on prayer and faith during this historic NFL draft of slide.
But some of his followers leaned into something else.
ESPN STAR -host Stephen A. Smith helped touch, whether on purpose or not, a warmed debate on the role of the race in Sanders’ draft drama.
Smith revealed an SMS from an associate that compared the situation with Colin Kaepernick, who was out of the NFL since 2016 after his notorious knees during the National song, in an X -Stolpe. And Smith agreed with the comparison.
“‘This is a bad look for the NFL. This feels like Kaepernick-level collusion,'” Smith said the text read and added that the situation goes beyond “talent evaluation.”
“All the hard work that the NFL League office puts on to eradicate these kinds of perceptions only to turn and see when the owners look like they are crashing, and messy all. What has been done to buckle will surpass everything else in this draft. We will never think this is about just talent evaluation again.”
NFL -Draft of Quarterback -Error that Formed League Landscape
Colorado Buffaloes Quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) goes through the tunnel for warming before Rocky Mountain Showdown Against CSU RAMS at Folsom Field on September 16, 2023. (Andy Cross/Medianews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
In a previous post Smith wrote, “In another way, this is Kaepernick again.”
Barstool -founder Dave Portnoy aimed at Smith with an answer and called the ESPN host’s attitude “Insane” and a “Race Take.” Portnoy made sure to express his “Love” for the Shedeur’s father Deion Sanders in his response to Smith, and also pointed out that the first quarterback was taken, Miami Quarterback Cam Ward was black.
“This is crazy. All these breeds take are insane. I love Deion. And I’ve said for two years that Sheteur would be my first QB from the board. But NFL GMS, coaches, owners will do everything to win games, save jobs. NFL is cut out. Owners would stamp on each other’s stru to win. There is no collusion,” Write Portnoy.
“The first choice was a black qb. If team thought that shedur and everything he brings could help them win games more than guys available on the board, they would draft him. That’s it. End the story. Every other story is fantasy.”
Other debates on the issue have raged hard and branched deep into the political sphere.
Earlier on Friday, before Sanders even fell past the second and third rounds, former Democratic Congress Member Jamaal Bowman suggests more unclear that he has fallen because “America continues to fear strong black men.”
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“NFL doesn’t like [Shedeur] Sanders because he wears gold chains and speaks as a rapper. They don’t care that he is a leader, intelligent, hard and completed 77% of his passport without o-line and no running games. He is right, but Eli Manning was not entitled to when he refused to be prepared by San Diego? “Bowman wrote on X.
“He is not athletic, but it did not stop Joe Montana, Drew Brees or Tom Brady. America continues to fear strong black men who come from funds and have a strong sense of themselves without submitting to the ‘dominant’ culture.”
Bowman’s original post has since received a community note pointed out the fact that the first choices of the last three drafts have been black quarterbacks.
Conservative filmmaker Matt Walsh spotted Bowman’s video with a sarcastic reintroduction on X.
ESPN radio host Peter Rosenberg issued a long-lasting thread on X, arguing that race has been a factor in Sanders’ draft slide.
“Some (white) people may not understand why race is becoming a conversation about shooting watch. It may or may not have anything to do with what is going on here, but the relationship between America and ‘Brash’ Black Athletes has a deep story. White America is historically angry with and afraid of men like a throwing watch -sander.
Meanwhile, the FTNT Sports host went so far as to suggest that New York Giants passed over Sanders to Jaxson Dart because they don’t like “Black Quarterbacks.
“The giants do not like black QBs, this has been documented over time. By no means did they get a black QB with the personality of sliders Sanders unfortunately,” Becton wrote.
However, Becton’s post also received a community note that pointed out the fact that they have two black quarterbacks on their list.
Colorado Quarterback Shedeur Sanders talks with Mississippi Quarterback Jaxson Dart at NFL Football Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Conservative influencer Robbie Starbuck rejected the idea that Sanders fell due to racism.
“Skyeseur Sanders ends up being big, and teams can regret that he has not picked him, but the idea that he has not been picked because of racism is just stupid. No. 1 election in the draft was a black QB.
The Sanders family itself has not made such proposals for race. Instead, they have sent Bible Ververs and messages to thank God.
After Sanders was elected on Saturday, the family sent a video showing a violent party in their family home.
