Some lessons in football aren’t taught under stadium lights. They’re learned in the quiet, painful moments—when a dream slips through your fingers, and no crowd is there to cheer or boo. In the NFL, the difference between stardom and struggle often comes down to timing, humility, and hard truths. And sometimes, the people who’ve weathered the storm are the ones who deliver the toughest reminders.

The Shedeur Sanders debate is not over yet, and it won’t be anytime soon. What happened during the draft has sparked yet another discussion about Sanders. The Colorado alum’s draft stock dramatically fell last week during the 2025 Draft. After several reports of personnel labeling him arrogant, entitled, and rude, the mock drafts did predict a slip in his draft stock. But what no one was expecting was the seventh overall in the Heisman race falling to the fifth round in the Draft. This created quite a frenzy, with analysts and players divided over the Shedeur saga. 

The latest to chime in on the conversation is Hall of Famer Cris Carter. And mind you, the former WR is not sugarcoating anything as he calls out the Browns QB for being entitled. Carter blamed Shedeur for making poor draft decisions and for his attitude. Saying that the QB’s measurables are not first-round measurables, the former WR feels that Sanders’ family overplayed their hand in Shedeur’s draft process. “Them thinking that he was in the same evaluation mode as Eli Manning, they didn’t play that right. Them trying to narrow the teams that he was going to go to, that didn’t do right,” Carter said.

Cris echoed the same sentiment that a lot of others have been saying about Shedeur. That he was taking advantage of his last name. “His interview process, obviously, he could have done a lot better in that. A lot of people left that meeting, felt he was very, very entitled.” And that is the reason the Hall of Famer feels that Shedeur unknowingly, while doing so, turned down a $30 to $50 million contract. Had he handled his pre-draft process more humbly, instead of showing off “his outfits and expensive jewelry,” he would have been picked up in earlier rounds. “They taught him a great lesson,” Carter says during his recent interview with The Art Of Dialogue.

Coming from Carter, the criticism cuts even deeper. After all, this is the same man who once got picked up off waivers for just $100 by the Vikings in 1990. And still clawed his way to the Hall of Fame. If anyone knows how brutal the business can be and how badly you can screw it up it’s him. Not just that, Carter also shut down claims that the league had it out for Shedeur because of his last name. Or that there was some secret collusion to keep him out of the draft.

Did Shedeur Sanders overplay his hand?

Shedeur was expected to be drafted in the first round itself. He might have been out of the race for the top 10, but people were still expecting to hear his name called on Thursday night. But when that didn’t happen, it caught most people by surprise. Even on the second day, Shedeur, the 23-year-old’s name, wasn’t called out. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who has been an ardent supporter of Sanders, took to X to call out the league for being biased towards him. “How in the hell is @Shedeur not off the board, not drafted yet. Y’all still think this doesn’t have anything to do with teams hating on @DeionSanders,” he wrote.

 While many were on the same page as Stephen, Cris Carter dismissed this theory. The Hall of Famer says that had the league collectively decided to outcast Shedeur, this very fact would have leaked by now. “They wouldn’t be able to keep a secret like that. And so they might do it, but they couldn’t shut up about it,” the former WR points out. For Cris Carter, the reason behind Shedeur Sanders’ draft downfall is simple. If any NFL owner truly believed Shedeur was a franchise QB, they would’ve taken him. No one passes up a legit shot at building a strong roster. 

The former WR  didn’t hold back while calling out the young QB for prioritizing image over substance, “So for his job interview, he was so concerned about, oh, what his outfit was. His necklace was over a hundred grand. Like he hadn’t even convinced people that you’re the face of our franchise. Matter of fact, he had convinced people that they were better off going in a different direction. Even with people who had lesser talent, that’s the rub.“

So, did Shedeur Sanders fall victim to bias or just his missteps? Cris Carter makes a strong case for the latter, painting the NFL not as petty, but practical. The league didn’t shut him out; it showed him the mirror. What do you think, tough love or unfair snub?