BEREA — On the second day of Browns rookie minicamp, Shedeur Sanders finally stepped in front of the microphones.
Sanders, the fifth-round quarterback out of the University of Colorado, last spoke on April 26. That was the same day Cleveland traded up to pick No. 144 to end the well-chronicled fall by the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders.
Nether Sanders nor fellow rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel spoke on the first day of Browns rookie minicamp. The team instead had the other five draft picks each speak, giving them their moment in the sun.
That made the second day of rookie camp the first real chance to hear Sanders’ thoughts on many subjects. That includes the competition not only with Gabriel but the rest of the quarterbacks, as well as his own progression and other topics, both football and non-football related.
Here’s a quick look at some of the key things Sanders had to say at Browns rookie minicamp on May 10:
Shedeur Sanders on 1st day on the practice field
“I think there’s a lot of stuff in person I could work on,” Sanders said, “but overall as a team, I think we came out with great energy. The speed and everybody was working hard, working very fast and being very efficient.”
Shedeur Sanders on message from Tom Brady
“That was it, that my story’s going to be similar,” Sanders said. “I was a late-round draft prick, but we’re here now, so none of that stuff matters. That just mattered on the day, and I’m just excited to be here, ready to work.”
Shedeur Sanders on support during draft fall, including from Donald Trump
“I was truly thankful,” Sanders said. “I was truly thankful for it, including him. It was a lot of fans, a lot of people in barbershops, a lot of hairstylists. There was a lot of just fans of me and of my craft and of my family that was there to support. So I was just thankful that I have that foundation overall just as people and we all could come together as one.”
Shedeur Sanders on Dillon Gabriel
“Cool, normal,” Sanders said. “Yeah, it been normal. He’s a real cool guy overall. You could tell he always have a great mood. He’s always in a good mood. He never — I’ve only been around him two days though — but he always have a great mood. But overall I could tell he is a pretty good person.”
Shedeur Sanders on balance between competing to start and just starting NFL career
“Well, of course it’s day by day,” Sanders said. “I just find something I want to perfect and just perfect it to the best of my abilities and that’s all I really focus on. And just being there, just being a leader, being a great teammate, doing what I need to do whenever it is. So I’m just thankful for an opportunity. Things could have been a lot worse, but I’m here smiling in front of you all at this facility right now.”
Shedeur Sanders on mindset
“I just feel like in life and everything, it’s just me versus me,” Sanders said. “I can’t control any other decision besides that. So I just try to be my best self at all times.”
Shedeur Sanders on community work in Cleveland
“Yeah, so typically every state I go to, I don’t really be on social like that,” Sanders said. “I got people that just run it for me and stuff. So what I find fun and interesting and it’s a lot of just, I don’t know, it is just joy to me is just going to those high schools, middle schools and just engaging with the younger kids because they mind’s not corrupted of other people’s opinions. So that’s why I find joy and happiness going to different schools and being able just to talk to ’em and see the joy in their face because they followed a journey. 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. I always send pizza to their school, show ’em that I’m still able to connect with them. They still able to connect with me and eventually I was supposed to get on the game with them also, but I don’t have my game out here right now.”
Shedeur Sanders on handling NFL draft slide
“I mean, you just got to step back and look at life,” Sanders said. “You’re in a great situation overall that you able to be healthy. That’s one thing going through. Even with my brother going through an injury and my pops and everybody in the family, you value life and you value opportunity and just waking up every day a different way. So that’s kind of why it’s nothing for me to really, no matter what in any situation, I can’t really be fazed by it. It is like playing quarterback. You go down there, you may have not scored the whole game or whatever, but then when it gets to that final two minutes and it’s time to lock in extra, you can’t be in your feelings. You can’t be down about anything. You still got another chance.”
Shedeur Sanders on father Deion Sanders’ impact
“I’d say definitely he gave us the spotlight to be able to do that,” Sanders said. “So he gave us the opportunity. That’s all you could ask for in anybody’s job, in anybody’s profession, it’s just an opportunity to give a chance. The rest after that is on you. So I’m taking every snap out there, I’m getting up after these hits. I’m the one throwing touchdowns. I’m the one, they got to live it day by day. So that’s all he gave us was the opportunity. And we had to navigate and see what we like about. And that’s how I study people honestly. I study people, see how they handle certain things, see what they do, see different people’s tendencies when it’s going on. So you really able, you won’t ever really be able to tell when I’m frustrated and when I’m not feeling good or anything because I watched even self-reflecting years, even just on sidelines and stuff, I feel like I could have handled better situations because it was misunderstood by the mask. But I understood, but I don’t want anybody to form negative opinions about me and it’s something I could change. So I just took that type of leadership ability within myself to not give that vibe off or not give off that different type of aesthetic of negativity.”
Shedeur Sanders on other people’s opinions
“I mean, thank you for saying that because my job here isn’t to prove people wrong,” Sander said. “I prove myself right and I fully as self-belief and what those people say, that’s just their opinion. So I don’t truly care. They don’t really live in my mental space about that type of stuff. It really doesn’t do anything for me.”
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: What Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders had to say at his first rookie minicamp practices
Reporting by Chris Easterling, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
