Colorado coach Deion Sanders voiced appreciation for Mel Kiper Jr.'s continued support in the aftermath of Shedeur Sanders falling in the fifth round to the Cleveland Browns. The situation kickstarted a firestorm. Kiper ripped evaluators for Sanders' fall throughout coverage of the draft, arguing he was the top quarterback on the board and not No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward.
That opinion generated a reaction from Miami coach Mario Cristobal, after which Sanders responded in defense of Kiper.
"But I Love u my man! You stood on the desk with great balance 10 toes down and said what u doggone said & didn't flinch," Sanders wrote. “You knew what time it was my man & we're blessed to be right where God wanted us to be. 'With OPPORTUNITY' they forgot I was in the tv/entertainment business for 20 years before coaching."
Cristobal said Kiper never reached out to the Hurricanes to get more information on Ward during the pre-draft process.
"Never heard from him," Cristobal said Wednesday during ACC spring meetings. "I don't think I ever talked to him."
Kiper reacted to Cristobal's statement soon thereafter, defending his opinion.
"Mario Cristobal claims he spoke to a million people about Cam Ward, yet the one he didn't speak to, being me, had Ward ranked higher (6th on my Big Board) than any of the other draft experts. Interesting isn't it," Kiper wrote. "And oh by the way, I didn't speak to Deion about Shedeur either. I need another Orange Crush after this nonsense."
As for the Browns rookie quarterback, he's not concerned with why he tumbled in the NFL Draft leading to a fifth-round selection. Following various reports of multiple teams being "turned off" during the interview process with Sanders, his stock tumbled in various mock drafts leading into the start of the event and continued throughout.
Sanders reportedly earned "unprofessional" and "disinterested" labels during two meetings with NFL teams inside the top seven. This comes after he was a driving force in Colorado's resurgence with one of college football's best 2024 season performances at the position.
There was even a report centered around Sanders "arrogance" during pre-draft conversations with a specific franchise.
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"I think what happened was I had a great interview and a great process with the Browns and that's why they were able to pick me," Sanders said about his slide after the draft. "Anything outside the organization is really a non-factor to me now. This is my focus."