The Sanders Standard: 5th Round to QB1 -How Shedeur’s Journey is a Case Study in Resilience, Family, and Faith
They said he was "too Hollywood." They let him slide to the 5th round—144th overall. They skipped over him five times over.
Sunday night, Shedeur Sanders didn’t just win a football game - By leading the Cleveland Browns to a 24-10 victory over the Raiders, he became the first Browns QB to win his debut start since 1999, snapping an 0-17 streak of failure.
With Coach Prime watching from the stands, Shedeur showed us exactly what happens when you combine elite preparation with a support system that refuses to let the "hate" penetrate.
As a new agent, this is the lesson: Talent gets you drafted, but faith and family keep you standing when the world doubts you.
Read my full breakdown on why the Sanders family is the blueprint for modern athlete mental health. 👇
And join me next Wednesday as I break down Coach Prime’s 2023 Book Elevate and Dominate in the next ChalkTalk Book Club.
This past Sunday night was mythmaking. A father in the stands, a rookie under the lights, a city dragging around a decades-old curse like an anvil on a chain… and a young QB who shrugged, tightened his chinstrap, and said: “I’m who they’ve been looking for.”
As a newbie sports attorney and agent, I am constantly told to look at the "comps"—comparable players, standard trajectories, and safe bets. But after Sunday night, I’m convinced that the most valuable lesson in sports right now isn't in the analytics. It’s in the Sanders family box.
In this industry, you’ll hear people talk about pressure like it’s abstract. The word gets tossed around on ESPN panels, debated on podcasts, written into scouting reports.
Sunday night, pressure became a person.
And that person walked into the Cleveland game in the form of a 5th-round rookie who wasn’t supposed to win, wasn’t supposed to shine, and—if you listened to the loudest voices—wasn’t supposed to be here.
And Shedeur Sanders didn’t flinch.
THE CURSE THAT WASN’T BIGGER THAN HIS CALM
If you watched the Cleveland Browns beat the Las Vegas Raiders 24-10 Sunday night, you didn't just see a rookie quarterback win a game. You saw the breaking of a generational curse. Before Shedeur Sanders took the field yesterday, Browns quarterbacks were 0-17 in their first career starts dating back to 1999. The pressure was immense. The history was heavy.
But Shedeur didn’t fold. Why? Because he has spent his entire life being built for this specific type of heat.
A 24–10 win over the Raiders.
A streak of failure, broken.
A narrative, flipped.
A city, exhaling.
The critics and haters - silenced.
But the story isn’t the score. It’s the psychology. Because long before Shedeur ever touched an NFL field, he’d already been forged in a furnace hotter than anything Cleveland, or the haters and detractors, could throw at him.
THE HATE AND THE SLIDE
Let’s be honest about what happened in April.
Seeing a talent like Shedeur Sanders slide to the 5th round (Pick 144) was shocking to some, but vindictive to others. But he did. Not because he couldn’t play, but because people didn’t like the packaging.
He was skipped over round after round—five times over—while teams reached for "safer" picks. The media narrative shifted from his Heisman-worthy college stats to ripping apart his character. It was an orchestrated attempt to humble a young man who refused to fit the quiet, submissive mold of a traditional rookie.
“It was an orchestrated attempt to humble a young man who refused to fit the quiet, submissive mold of a traditional rookie.”
They didn’t like that he had confidence. They didn’t like that he had a brand. They didn’t like that he wouldn’t shrink to make them comfortable. And so the anonymous scouts sharpened their knives.
"Holds the ball too long."
"Not an NFL leader."
"Too Hollywood."
Never mind that half the league’s stars are wearing tunnel-walk couture and Cartier. When Shedeur does it? Suddenly it's a red flag. But sliding doesn’t break you when you were raised to understand that the world doesn’t decide your value. Your preparation does. Your character does. Your faith does.
THE POWER OF THE FATHER
This brings me to Deion Sanders. Seeing "Coach Prime" in the stands Sunday night, watching his son with that intense, glowing pride, was a reminder of what is missing in so many athletes' lives.
Critics love to criticize Deion’s involvement. They say he should step back. I completely disagree. In a league that treats players like disposable assets, Deion treats Shedeur like a legacy. He has modeled what it looks like for a father to love his child loudly and unapologetically. He didn't just teach Shedeur how to read a defense; he taught him that his worth isn't defined by a draft number.
“Coach Prime has modeled what it looks like for a father to love his child loudly and unapologetically. ”
That embrace after the game wasn't just a father hugging a son; it was a vindication of their method. They did it their way, and they won.
Lots of people love to nitpick the Sanders dynamic.
"His dad is too involved."
"His dad talks too much."
"His dad needs to step back."
What those critics really mean is this:
They are uncomfortable seeing a Black father be loud, present, and fiercely protective.
Deion isn’t a helicopter. He’s a foundation. He teaches publicly what many families never see privately. He shows up. He advocates. He corrects. He celebrates. He loves out loud in a world that often asks men—especially Black men—to be stoic, silent, or absent.
“Deion Sanders loves out loud in a world that often asks men—especially Black men—to be stoic, silent, or absent.”
YES, I’m a (new) sports attorney and a(n even newer) sports agent - so I study this stuff like game film; But, I became those things in my second act, if you will, after being a single mom raising my children largely without a man’s presence – and let me be very clear: What Deion gives his son is exactly what every athlete should have, what every child should have. If we help our athletes build even 10% of that kind of inner circle? Well, that is a success rate to be proud of in my book.
THE FAITH FACTOR: FAITH OVER FEAR
You can’t talk about Shedeur and Deion without talking about their faith. Not the Instagram-caption kind. The kind that fortifies you. The kind that fortifies me. The kind that steadies your breathing when decades of a franchise’s trauma are staring you down.
In the post-game presser, Shedeur didn't talk about "haters" or "revenge." He talked about God. He and his father have been consistent about their faith being their anchor. When you slide to the 5th round and the national media is betting on your failure, you need a foundation that is stronger than public opinion.
Shedeur played with a calmness Sunday night that you don't see in 5th-round rookies. That wasn't arrogance; it was the peace of someone who knows who they are, regardless of what the scouting reports say. And when Shedeur said after the game that God was his peace, it wasn’t PR. It was truth. Faith is their anchor. And anchors don’t move when the tide rages.
THE AGENT’S TAKEAWAY: CIRCLES MATTER MORE THAN SCOUTING REPORTS
The biggest lesson I took from Sunday night had nothing to do with stat lines.
It had everything to do with support.
Because in this business—and I’m learning it fast—the league doesn’t break athletes. Isolation breaks athletes. A bad circle breaks athletes. Silence breaks athletes. Being surrounded by people who only love you when the scoreboard agrees breaks athletes.
But a corner like the Sanders family?
That keeps you standing. That carries you. That lets you breathe inside chaos. That beats curses.
“Shedeur walked into that stadium with a father in the stands who loves him louder than the entire internet hates him — and played with a calm you can’t teach. ”
Shedeur walked into that stadium with a father in the stands who loves him louder than the entire internet hates him — and played with a calm you can’t teach.
That’s faith.
That’s preparation.
That’s a support system built like a fortress.
Sunday night proved something: Talent gets doubted. Draft stock gets twisted. Narratives get ugly. But a quarterback who knows who he is? You can't rattle that.
For me, as we build our practice and agency, the lesson is clear. My job isn't just to get guys paid. It’s to help them build a "Sanders-style" corner. Every athlete needs a support system that insulates them from the toxicity of the business. They need people who remind them of their value when they are sliding down the draft board.
Shedeur Sanders proved Sunday night that if your mind and your circle are right, you can handle anything the league , or life, throws at you. Shedeur didn’t just break a decades long losing streak on Sunday night— he broke the myth that confidence is arrogance, that branding is baggage, and that a young Black QB has to shrink to be respected. Sunday night wasn’t just a win. It was a clinic in belief, family, faith, and identity.
The Sanders Standard is real.
Get used to it.
CHALK TALK BOOK CLUB:
COACH PRIME UP NEXT
If you want to understand the blueprint that built Shedeur’s mindset, you need to read the source material.
For our next Chalk Talk Book Club, we are going back to Coach Prime’s 2023 bestseller, "Elevate and Dominate: 21 Ways to Win On and Off the Field."
It’s not just a football book; it’s a survival guide for maintaining confidence in a world that wants you to doubt yourself. Pick up a copy, and let’s discuss it next week!
Join us. Read with us. Apply it.
Because this isn’t just football philosophy — it’s life philosophy with cleats on.
