CLEVELAND, Ohio — Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders was lucky early Tuesday morning that no one got hurt when he was flying down 1-71 in Strongsville at 101 mph in a 60 zone, according to police.
News of Sanders’ citation by Strongsville police broke on the same day that former Raiders receiver Henry Ruggs, the No. 12 overall pick in 2021, broke his silence on a fatal crash that killed a woman and her dog, saying he wished he “could turn back the hands of time,” and apologized to the woman’s family.
Unlike Sanders — who was not driving under the influence when he was pulled over — Ruggs pleaded guilty to drunk driving and vehicle manslaughter, and was sentenced to 3-10 years in prison. He’s eligible for parole in August of 2026.
But Sanders, who can fight the ticket or pay the $250 fine, still could’ve killed himself or someone else at that speed, and he’s lucky no one got hurt. It’s why this incident should be an enormous wakeup call for him.
If Sanders needs further warning to slow down, he should spend a few minutes with Browns defensive end Myles Garrett at the start of camp. In fact, Garrett or the Browns should insist on it, and it wouldn’t be a bad way for Garrett to demonstrate that he’s taking the team’s call for even more leadership seriously.
In September of 2022, Garrett and his female passenger almost died when he lost control of his Porsche 911 Turbo S and flipped it three times. Like Sanders, Garrett — who doesn’t drink alcohol — wasn’t impaired during the crash, but traveling at an unsafe speed. It was the seventh time he had been cited for speeding in Ohio, and judging from the mangled mess of metal, he was lucky to walk away with mostly minor injuries. Same thing for the young woman.
“We’re very grateful that he and his passenger are alive,” Sgt. Ray Santiago of the Ohio State Highway Patrol told cleveland.com at the time.
The accident was life-changing for Garrett, who believed he had a guardian angel watching over him.
“I don’t think it takes something as drastic as this to tell me that I need to slow down,” he said. “It’s about listening to my love ones, hearing them out and understanding that it’s serious every time you get into the car. This a definitely a call to me be more safe in my driving and pay attention to my speed and to my surroundings.”
Fortunately for Sanders, he didn’t lose control of the car or hurt anyone, but hopefully the negative publicity it brought to him and the Browns was enough to slow him down in the future.
The incident is also unfortunate, because Sanders, who’s in town until Friday for rookie orientation, has said and done all of the right things since the Browns drafted him in the fifth round of the NFL Draft out of Colorado in April.
Despite the worst freefall for a quarterback in NFL draft history, Sanders arrived in Cleveland with a broad smile on his face and has maintained it ever since. He came to town two weeks before rookie minicamp and took it upon himself to speak to student-athletes at John Marshall High School Campus, delivering an inspirational message about overcoming adversity. He later said he loves to talk to kids because their minds “aren’t corrupted” by other people’s opinions.
“That’s why I find joy and happiness going to different schools and being able just to talk to them and see the joy in their face because they followed the journey,” he said during rookie minicamp. “So even through everything, whenever it was going crazy, wild, negative, everything, my happiness was going there. So that’s what I always resort to.”
The afternoon before Sanders got cited, he worked with kids at the Browns Youth Camp along with the rest of the rookies, and definitely looked to be enjoying himself as he got behind the camera and interviewed campers. He’s engaging and charismatic, and seems to have a big, giving heart.
During organized team activities and mandatory minicamp last week, Sanders attached himself to the hip of 40-year-old Joe Flacco, and brought out the kid in him, trying to get him to dance and making him laugh. But he also worked his tail off, climbing up the learning curve and keeping himself in the four-way quarterback competition along with Flacco, Kenny Pickett and third-round pick Dillon Gabriel. Heading into training camp next month — the rookies report July 18 and veterans July 22 — Sanders is expected to get more work in team reps and his first snaps with and against the starters.
But the Browns are evaluating everything their players do, and the citation goes on the minus side of the ledger. Speeding is one thing, but going 40 mph over the speed limit on a highway after midnight — during rookie orientation — is another.
The Browns, who declined to comment, will probably chalk it up to a life lesson for a 23-year-old who’s always been a standup young man. But when teams break for the summer, their worst fear is getting a late-night call about one of their players getting hurt or in trouble. The Browns got that phone call on Tuesday morning, and fortunately for everyone involved, the news wasn’t worse.
Now, it’s time for Sanders to pump the brakes and generate only positive headlines.
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