Sportsnaut
Shedeur Sanders became the 42nd quarterback to start a game for the Cleveland Browns since the franchise’s return to the NFL in 1999 when he took the field in Week 12 against the Las Vegas Raiders. What happened next? The fifth-round pick did the unthinkable. He won.
Sanders led the Browns to a 24-10 victory, completing 11 of 20 passes for 209 yards with one touchdown and one interception, becoming the first Cleveland quarterback to win his first NFL start since Eric Zeier in 1995. That’s not a typo. The franchise went 30 years before a rookie QB pulled off what Sanders just managed in his debut.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Shedeur Sanders is a lightning rod. Like Tim Tebow. Like Johnny Manziel. The kind of quarterback who generates visceral, opposing reactions across sports media and fan bases. You either believe in him or you think he’s nothing but bravado and his father’s name. There’s almost no middle ground. And that’s exactly why the Browns have nothing to lose by continuing to start him.
The NFL is a business, and Sanders, like his father Deion Sanders, sells jerseys. He drives conversation. Furthermore, he fills the air waves with passionate takes. Some see passion, leadership, and grit. Others see ego wrapped in a Colorado legacy. That divide won’t go away.
Tim Tebow arrived in the NFL in 2010 as college football royalty. A Heismann winner and the guy who could will his team to victories with pure heart. The NFL went absolutely crazy over him. Some thought he was a transcendent talent that was held back by bad systems. They said the skeptics didn’t understand his genius. Others thought he was exactly what he appeared to be: a quarterback with real limitations who benefited from elite defenses and evangelical fervor. Denver’s improbable 8-5 stretch in 2011 fed both narratives simultaneously.
Then came perhaps the ultimate lightning rod in Johnny Manziel. Johnny Football arrived in 2014 and sparked the same fire. Passionate defenders were absolutely convinced of his talent, and ardent detractors equally sure he was a selfish, arrogant athlete that couldn’t carry him in a real league. Both camps felt justified.
The careers of Tebow and Manziel never amounted to much. Tebow ranks 8th all-time on the greatest Broncos quarterbacks. It’s even worse for Manziel, as he ranks 38th all-time for the Browns at quarterback. But here’s what mattered: both raised questions that only the NFL could answer by letting them play.
Shedeur Sanders has elements of both lightning rods. The name recognition like Manziel and the true believers like Tebow’s most fervent supporters. College success that makes you wonder if his game translates or if it was scheme-dependent. We’re now in the midst of finding out, as Sanders and the Browns are back in action this weekend, hosting the San Francisco 49ers.
Sanders was a star at Colorado under his father before becoming...
