Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders has been the talk of the town since his NFL debut
07:45 ET, 26 Nov 2025
Shedeur Sanders
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Shedeur Sanders compared to former President Barack Obama(Image: Getty Images)
Cleveland Browns' rookie quarterback, Shedeur Sanders, made a splash in his professional debut last Sunday, completing 11 of his 20 passes for 2019 yards and a touchdown in a 241-0 road victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Sanders has been the talk of the sports world after his debut, partly due to his famous surname (his father, Deion, was among the spectators).
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ESPN basketball analyst Kendrick Perkins, known for his bold opinions, compared Sanders's popularity to that of former US President Barack Obama in 2009. Meanwhile, current President Donald Trump's views on Sanders are quite clear. "You ready for this take? Shedeur Sanders is the most powerful black man since 2009," he declared on the LGNT TLK podcast.
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"You know what happened in 2009? That's when President (Barack) Obama got elected in office.
"You know what happened in 2009? That's when President (Barack) Obama got elected in office.
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Shedeur Sanders of the Cleveland Browns looks to pass in the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium(Image: Getty Images)
"He's the most powerful black man since 2009.
"And when I say powerful, there are two sides to it. He's bringing the whole Black community together. I ain't ran across one Black person that has said one bad thing about Shedeur.", reports the Express US.
"He has the balance of, 'I'm arrogant, but I'm humble too.' And he's having fun with this ---," Perkins concluded. Sanders has certainly walked the tightrope between arrogance and humility since he was promoted to the starting position.
Before the Raiders game, the former Colorado quarterback confessed on the broadcast that "a lot of people want to see me fail" before confidently adding that "it ain't going to happen."
His impressive performance secured him a starting spot in next week's home game against the San Francisco 49ers, even though regular starter Dillon Gabriel has returned to fitness.
"It's amazing, you know, off of one week of practice. This is one week of practice," Sanders said postgame.
"So, imagine what a full offseason would look like. It gets dangerous. But it's just one week of practice, so I'm truly thankful that everything happened."
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This isn't the first time Perkins has weighed in on Obama. Back in August, the former NBA center took to Twitter to declare:
"Shedeur got a pre-season game feeling like a playoff opener," he wrote.
"Like I said, most star power for a Rookie in Cleveland since Lebron!"