5 church leaders react to Shedeur Sanders’ NFL draft controversy

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Wednesday, April 30, 2025

After a dramatic weekend that saw 23-year-old quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who was projected in some mock drafts to be a top-five overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft, getting repeatedly overlooked until the Cleveland Browns selected him as the 144th pick in the fifth round on Saturday, his reaction to the test of his patience inspired sermons among pastors on Sunday.

“Nothing really affected me the last couple of days, just really pushed having faith, understanding God really had me,” Sanders said after his selection, according to Associated Press football writer Rob Maaddi.

While his precipitous slide in the draft generated a national debate about what was the cause, including allegations of arrogance and the influence of his father, University of Colorado head coach, Super Bowl winner and NFL Hall of Famer, Deion Sanders, the new Cleveland Browns quarterback had nothing but praise for God in the end.

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“I’m blessed. Besides that, it’s not really anything that changes. The love of the game is still the same. When you get on the field, it wasn’t too much negativity being said. I know I’ve got to clean up some things in my game for me to be at my best, but that’s why I take each offseason one at a time and fix it,” he said.

“So I think that was just outside of football getting in the way, but therefore I have an opportunity now. Then we’re about to get on grass really soon.”

Here are five Christian leaders' reactions to the drama around the NFL draft and Sanders' late selection.