The surprising NFL Draft slide of Shedeur Sanders is still a topic of discussion more than a week after the conclusion of the NFL Draft. On a recent episode of his podcast comedian Tony Rock, brother of Chris Rock, offered a unique opinion that he says was supported by Stephen A. Smith.
Sanders, the former Jackson State and Colorado quarterback, was selected 144th overall by the Cleveland Browns. Notably, the Browns had already drafted Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel in the third round.
Rock said on the podcast that he thought Sanders wasn’t drafted early because a team with a poor record playing Shedeur Sanders at quarterback might be tempted to bring on Deion Sanders as a future coach.
“So now the season starts, and you have Shedeur on the bench, and your team is already [expletive]—that’s why you drafted early—and you’re losing 3 or 4 games in a row. And now everybody’s like, yo, put Shedeur in, right? But now the coach is on the hot seat. Who do you think is the first person they’re going to think of to hire as the new coach,” Rock said.
Tony Rock reveals text from Stephen A. Smith
“We got Shedeur in here. Deion is going to come in and bring so much more—fans, so much more eyes, so much more money. So you realistically, if you’re a coach and you drafted Shedeur in the first round, you are drafting your successor. Yeah, you are drafting the guy that’s going to take your job. I told my brother [Chris Rock] that, ” he continued.
Tony Rock then went on to say that his brother Chris received a text from Stephen A. Smith of ESPN about two hours later. According to him, Smith agreed with Rock in the text message.
“Honestly, I don’t think it had anything to do with Shedeur. If you’re an NFL head coach, drafting Shedeur meant you were more than likely also drafting your replacement in Deion. If [Mike] Tomlin’s Steelers draft him and they don’t win the Super Bowl, Deion will immediately be the coach next year,” the text message read according to Rock.
He continued reading Smith’s message, “Yeah, if Deion was a bad coach—if Deion was a bad coach—Shedeur would have went in the first round,” Rock continued reading.
Rookie minicamp for the Cleveland Browns will be held May 9-11.
