Stephen A. Smith blasts Shedeur Sanders' draft fall: 'Kaepernick all over again'
ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith was among the many who took issue with Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders' fall in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Sanders was widely expected to be selected in the first two rounds of the 2025 draft. Instead, he fell out of the draft's first two days altogether.
Smith took to social media to decry the NFL for passing on Sanders time and time again over the draft's first 102 picks.
"This is a damn disgrace. How in the hell is [Shedeur] not off the board, not drafted yet?" Smith wrote. "Y’all still think this doesn’t have anything to do with teams hatin (sic) on [Deion Sanders]. This kid is a first rounder."
Smith went on to compare Sanders' fall to Colin Kaepernick's departure from the NFL. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback was unable to land another NFL contract following the 2016 NFL season, during which he knelt during the national anthem to protest police brutality.
"In a different way, this is Kaepernick all over again…..being kept out," Smith wrote. "A damn disgrace. I don’t care what anyone says!"
Smith was not alone in his assessment of Sanders' plight. Long-time ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. was in disbelief that Sanders wasn't selected in the first round while President Donald Trump blasted NFL owners for passing on Sanders in the first round in a social media post of his own.
Five quarterbacks in total were selected on the first two days of the 2025 NFL Draft: Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart, Tyler Shough, Jalen Milroe and Dillon Gabriel.
Sanders will hope to be the sixth selected as his long, draft-day wait extends to Day 3.