- 5 months ago
Albert Breer joined Toucher & Hardy to talk about the media hype and protection around Shedeur Sanders. He said much of Shedeur’s image is staged by his father, Deion Sanders, whose NFL legend status earns him loyalty from ex-players and media. Even though Shedeur is fourth on the Browns’ depth chart and never had to win a college starting job, Breer has been criticized for pointing out his weaknesses. The crew questioned whether the loyalty is truly for Shedeur or simply because of Deion’s legacy.
Images courtesy of USA TODAY NETWORK
Images courtesy of USA TODAY NETWORK
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00:00Was one of the camps you went to Cleveland?
00:02I've seen Cleveland twice.
00:03Okay.
00:04Fred, we were talking about Shador Sanders off the air.
00:07He has some interesting information.
00:09First of all, it's impossible to like this kid.
00:12I mean, he shows up at his first start with the guy with the boombox and the staff.
00:15Well, let's talk about that.
00:17Is he a – was that serious?
00:20Is he being serious or was he kind of poking fun at the whole thing?
00:24I don't know.
00:24I mean, there's so much around him that is staged and, like, there are cameras everywhere
00:29and I brought up –
00:31Like, I know the cameras are there for real, but, like, his entrance into that game,
00:36like, it almost thinks it was –
00:38I mean, like –
00:38Was he goofing on, like, the media?
00:40Like, because he had a guy with a staff, like a big stick, like a, you know,
00:46Lord of the Rings or whatever crap, like the Hobbit.
00:48Yeah.
00:49Like, he had a big – I guess the Hobbit, right?
00:51Like, he had a big staff.
00:52I guess it's the same thing.
00:53Gandalf.
00:54Yeah, like a Gandalf staff.
00:56John would know.
00:57Yeah.
00:57He played Dungeons & Dragons, but it almost seemed to me like he was kidding around,
01:02but I don't know because I don't want to be the guy making fun of him
01:05when he's actively trying to get people to make fun of him.
01:09Like, the joke's on us.
01:10There's maybe, like, an element of, like, trolling everybody with all this with him,
01:15but I don't know.
01:17It's just – you know, I was telling you the story about Tony Grossi.
01:21Tell the story.
01:21There's a video, Fred, of him arguing with a writer.
01:25Do you know who Tony Grossi is, Fred?
01:27No.
01:27Okay, so Tony Grossi is –
01:29Oh, I did see the video of him.
01:31Yeah.
01:31But was he joking in that?
01:32Well, hold on.
01:33So this is, like – so Tony Grossi, for those who don't know,
01:36has covered the Browns since, like, Marty Schottenheimer was the coach.
01:41So he's been around forever, and he's been critical of Shadur,
01:45and there's a video that got out there on social media that has Tony Grossi
01:49and Shadur Sanders going back and forth, which, by the way, like, I really appreciate –
01:53as a reporter, I appreciate that.
01:55I would much rather have a player or a coach or an executive come up and get pissed with me
02:00and tell me they're not happy with me than not know and have them act weird to me
02:06for, like, a couple years.
02:07You know what I mean?
02:08Sure.
02:08Like, I just think that's a healthy thing when a reporter and a player,
02:12someone you cover, whatever, like, have that sort of interaction.
02:16So Shadur approaches him.
02:18So my first thought was when Shadur did that, I was like, good.
02:21I'm like, that's, like, a good thing for a player to do.
02:25Like, now Shadur and Tony can get past that, and, like, that's the best way to solve a problem.
02:30And then I looked at the – you know when you're on Twitter and then, you know,
02:34somebody else reposts a video and then you look and there's, like, the little tag at the bottom
02:38and then you can kind of click through.
02:41So then I click through.
02:42And then on the second video, there's a credit, and it's at well-off media, which is Dion Jr.
02:50So this whole confrontation, which, like, seemed like came off as being very organic,
02:56like, he actually made sure that the camera was there capturing the whole thing,
03:01which cheapened – I mean, ruined the whole – ruined all of it.
03:04But you have to give me a little credit for noticing that and asking the question if that was staged.
03:11I – when you mentioned this just now, I said, was he being serious?
03:16I don't think he was being serious.
03:18All of it's staged, I think.
03:20Yeah, which is – it's, like, it's a very meta concept.
03:24Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
03:27This is, like, this is the point I made on Tebow.
03:30This is the point I made on Kaepernick.
03:32This is the point I make on all of them.
03:34For better or worse.
03:36You threw a white guy in there.
03:37NFL teams.
03:38No, for better or worse.
03:39So, he's equal opportunity.
03:41This isn't about young black quarterbacks.
03:42Good for you, Bert.
03:43No, but for better or worse.
03:45But I think it applies with those guys.
03:47No.
03:48Why they don't – why sometimes the opportunities for them stop coming is because,
03:54for better or worse, coaches, teams want the backup quarterback to blend in with the furniture.
04:01They don't want a backup quarterback who's a celebrity.
04:03They don't want a backup quarterback who, every time their starter fumbles a snap or throws an interception,
04:13the cameras are panning over to them.
04:15Like, they don't want that.
04:16And so, like, when you ask, is that a bad thing, at that position, it can be.
04:22Because –
04:23Well, just in general, most coaches don't want a player who's a reality star who's going to make drama for anything.
04:30Well, no, but there's some level of it being worth it too, right?
04:33Like, you have to be – you have to be good enough to justify everything that comes along with you.
04:39If you're the best player on the team, go nuts.
04:42You can have as many camera crews as you want, right?
04:45The team's going to put up with it.
04:47If you're the 40th guy in the roster, there's going to be a lot less tolerance for it.
04:50That's just the reality.
04:51That's the thing.
04:52Sanders is not even that.
04:53He's fourth on the depth chart, right?
04:55All right, so I know why Sanders is as popular as he is, and I'm not an idiot.
05:01I understand that.
05:02And, look, he won the draft.
05:04I mean, that was fascinating, his fall through the draft.
05:08What I am interested in, though, is why is there this protection of him in the media?
05:15What is it about specifically him that makes people feel like they have to overly defend him?
05:22Because the concept of a black quarterback is not novel anymore.
05:28I mean, even 20 years ago, as crazy as it sounds, there would be some point to that comment.
05:35But now, I mean, I can't do a head count, but I would imagine half the quarterbacks in the NFL are black.
05:40Half the starting quarterbacks in the NFL are black.
05:43So the number one pick in the draft was black, and he was no button-up kid.
05:48I mean, from what you say, that his whole getting to Miami was a bit of a circus.
05:54So what is it about Shador that makes people protective of him?
05:59So you're talking about the ex-players, right?
06:01I'm just talking, yeah, which is a big chunk of the media, but it becomes like it's—
06:05Here's what it is.
06:06When I used to walk into locker rooms with an NFL network, Mike Flagg, and my colleague was Deion Sanders,
06:12I would do interviews with players, and I cannot tell you how many times I would walk away from an interview,
06:18and they would say to me, tell Prime I said, what's up?
06:22He is iconic in that community beyond what—I mean, beyond—he was a great player.
06:31Yeah, he's one of the best—
06:32He's top five players of all time, in my opinion.
06:35Right, like, probably the—maybe the best player who ever played—
06:38Maybe one of the—maybe the best player who ever played his position, right?
06:41Probably he's the best corner player.
06:42But, like, why he's an icon among players is because of how he elevated and changed kind of the celebrity of the player,
06:51how a player could carry himself.
06:53Like, football's always been very militaristic, and player one needs to look like player 53,
07:00and all that different stuff, right?
07:02And Deion was the one who sort of changed the dynamic for pro football players,
07:06and I think because of that and that huge, huge, huge impact he has,
07:10he's iconic in a way that goes beyond just how great he was on the field.
07:17And so I think he's held in that regard and has always been held in that regard by players.
07:22Even with the RAB career that was so bad.
07:26Objectively bad.
07:26But, like, just the opportunity, like, in all seriousness, though,
07:30and the—like, just the fact that he took a swing at doing that,
07:34I think they respect him for it.
07:35You know what I mean?
07:36And he was also friends with MC Hammer, which does not—
07:38I mean, MC Hammer was pretty lame, and not even during the—you can't touch this—
07:43the too legit to quit period.
07:45Oh, that was the thing, yeah.
07:46I mean, Jerry Glanville was in that as well, if you recall, the too legit to quit video.
07:51Yes.
07:51That Atlanta Falcons team.
07:53Yeah, Jerry Glanville.
07:53That's right.
07:54Very big with MC Hammer.
07:55I mean, he was into some lame stuff, let's be honest.
07:59But maybe that doesn't resonate as much as it does with me.
08:03But I think that's where it is.
08:04Like, there is a—I would just say I have had—because of some of the stuff that I've said,
08:09and this is not even opinion stuff.
08:10This is like reporting on why he's fourth in the depth chart.
08:15I've had text exchanges that have been pretty heated with some pretty prominent ex-players that are very defensive of Shador because of loyalty to Deion.
08:25You know, and I think that there is a very strong loyalty to Deion.
08:29You've made that clear.
08:30I just don't understand why they would get upset, though.
08:34Like, you would be—you could be loyal to Deion and not—which is a great analyst, by the way,
08:39is someone who's blindly loyal to someone's dad.
08:41But if you can be in your own comments blindly loyal to someone, I just don't understand why they would have an issue with you.
08:49Like, if you're reporting on the player, why they would reach—how do they justify reaching out to you?
08:55Because it's become—because—and this is the other place where it's become like T-Bone Kaepernick.
08:59It's like you're either on one side or you're not, you know, or the other.
09:02Like, that's—it just feels like this is one of those topics where there's like a dividing line.
09:06How do they couch it, though, if they don't just come out and say, I'm a friend of Deion Sanders?
09:11How do they couch, like, the criticism?
09:14Like, what is the reasoning?
09:15You're wrong.
09:15Like, there's no way.
09:17Like, he was a much better player than that at Colorado.
09:19Like, it's like one of the things that I've said that—I mean, this is a logical thing, but it's—he was way behind when he showed up.
09:26And I said this before the draft.
09:27You guys remember this.
09:29Like, teams, when they sat down and met with Shador, and I said it on this show, and this is part of the problem,
09:35I can't find anybody who thinks he's a first-round pick.
09:38I didn't put him in my first-round mock, and I got slaughtered in certain corners for that.
09:45But can I just ask you, again, what was the justification?
09:48Because they can't say I'm friends with Deion.
09:50Was it like, you have a beef with him because he's famous?
09:53Was it you have a beef with him because he's black?
09:55No, no, no.
09:55Was it because he's a high-profile black athlete?
09:59Like, how did they couch it?
10:00It is—it is—like, so my reporting on it says, like, from a football know-how standpoint,
10:06he's not where he needs to be to run a first-team offense in a practice.
10:12And the simple logic of it is that everybody looks at it like, well, why don't you give him a shot?
10:19Well, there are 10 other guys in that huddle who are looking to prepare to do their job and get ready for a season.
10:25And if you do not have a quarterback in that huddle with those other 10 guys who can function the offense at a high enough level,
10:32you are keeping those guys from doing their work to get ready for the season.
10:36And that's oftentimes why young quarterbacks who are behind cannot get first-team.
10:41Like, you functionally can't put them in the huddle.
10:44So I said that.
10:46And for obvious—like, there are—like, no, no, no, no.
10:50Like, Shadour's way beyond.
10:51I'm like, look, like, I'm not—this isn't my opinion.
10:54I know, aren't—that's the thing.
10:56I don't understand why they would get upset at you for passing on information that you have found out.
11:01That's the thing.
11:02It's not like you made all this up.
11:04And why would they—
11:05This is your opinion that came out of thin air.
11:07My thought is, my thought is, like—and I've always been friendly with Dion,
11:10but, like, my thought is that maybe it's possible that, like, Dion has seen these narratives out there that are truths
11:18and has maybe fired back on it with some of these people.
11:22Okay.
11:22You know, like, that's my thought.
11:24My thought on it is probably that, you know, oh, well, that's not fair to the kid that you're saying he's behind.
11:31It's not true.
11:32And it also—and, like, to be fair, like, lots of kids come from college and are a little bit behind
11:37because the systems they're in aren't perfect translations to what you do in the NFL.
11:41Well, so it is possible, too, that the Colorado—the people at Colorado take personal offense to the idea that Shadour was a little bit behind coming into the pros for obvious reasons.
11:54I think that's a definite.
11:55I don't think that's impossible.
11:56For obvious reasons.
11:57Yeah.
11:57But if it's the truth, it's the truth.
11:58So, yeah, it just is—I don't understand really why—I mean, I understand Dion was very popular.
12:06I mean, I saw him walk into rooms and, you know, there would be a press conference and Dion would just walk up to the dais and just, you know, walk up to players.
12:15Like, he was—he wasn't—
12:17I mean, nothing held him back, and the players were excited.
12:20I mean, he would go up with an NFL microphone, like, while a player was talking to the media and just, like, walk past the media and, like, right up to the guy, and they were happy for him to do it.
12:29It just—there's this—there's just this—it's been since before the draft.
12:35It's like, if you're not on the side of Shadour Sanders—and what do I know about Shadour Sanders?
12:41So this doesn't even involve me.
12:42I don't have a feeling either way.
12:43I'm just going by what people like you say because you talk to the coaches.
12:47There's this idea that if you're doing something wrong, not football wrong, like, morally wrong, like, you're on the wrong side of history, not football history, like, you know, social history.
13:02If you're not, like, Deion Sanders' kid, and it's like he's some, you know, like a Jackie Robinson person that is, you know, breaking through.
13:12I mean, the kid's had every advantage.
13:14His dad coached him in college.
13:16I mean, he's a silver spoon kid.
13:19I don't understand why this is the player that you're, you know, dying behind.
13:24I mean, there's—
13:24Think about this.
13:25He never had to win a starting job in college.
13:26Exactly.
13:27They just said his dad coached him in college.
13:29He never had to win the starting job.
13:31Like, he was at Jackson State as a freshman.
13:33You're the starter.
13:35He goes—transfers with his dad to Colorado.
13:38He's a starter.
13:38Never had to win the starting job in college.
13:40And the thing is, is that his other kid, Shiloh, that's, you know, wasn't drafted in and making it, you find yourself rooting for him.
13:48And he's saying—
13:49He's, like, actually enormously likable.
13:49That's what I'm saying.
13:50Every interview I've seen with him, he's, like, the fourth-string defensive back at Tampa.
13:55But then I bet you—
13:56He's fantastic.
13:56I bet you there would be a narrative, like, you like him because he's not good.
14:01Like, you like him because he's not strong and good.
14:04Which I don't think is fair.
14:06It's just amazing because, like, you look at the—just the—everything around him.
14:13It's just—it would serve him better as a pro football player if people would just let him be a fifth-round pick.
14:22Sure.
14:23If he could just develop.
14:24Yes.
14:24And he could just focus on football.
14:25But he is—he's his own worst enemy.
14:28I mean, I don't think—
14:29If he wasn't the way he is, I think people, some of them, would try to allow that to happen.
14:36I don't think it has anything to do with the way he's behaving or anything to do with the way he is because who—he never talked at Colorado.
14:43No, he never—he wasn't, like, a big media presence.
14:46His dad was, but he certainly wasn't.
14:48If you go back in your mind and think of all the times you saw Shador Sanders talk before the draft, it's not a lot.
14:54Like, I don't recall him doing anything off the field.
14:58Like, it—this all seems to be perpetuated without his—first of all, him being—going into a locker room and that even being filmed by anyone other than him and us knowing about it has nothing to do with him.
15:12It has everything to do with his dad and everything surrounding him.
15:17I don't recall him ever saying anything overly interesting or overly controversial or even behaving in a way that's overly controversial.
15:25I'm sure I could dig through interviews.
15:26There were stories about stuff.
15:28Yeah, but nothing, like, crate—nothing that, like, blew up.
15:32Like, everything around him just seems to be a manifestation of his father and, you know, the position that he plays and the sport that he plays.
15:40All right.
15:41I mean, I'm sure he said dickist stuff and cocky stuff in college, but he certainly wasn't like Caleb Williams crying in the stands on his mom's lap and stuff.
15:50No.
15:50I mean, not that I saw.
15:53I just remember after the combine he was spoken to and he had a big smile and said, everything went fine, those kind of things.
16:01Yeah, but how many other kids did that?
16:03I mean, you know, there's other kids that do that.
16:06It's just—
16:06The funny thing is, like, a lot of people are like, well, how could this guy fall in the draft?
16:12Yeah.
16:12Like, he was such a good player in college.
16:15And then those same people will say, well, like, I can't believe they took Dylan Gabriel in the third round.
16:22Dylan Gabriel is, like, the all-time, like, leader in touchdown passes in college football history.
16:27Right.
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