Since April, the “curse” has been rearing its ugly head toward the 2024 Big 12 Player of the Year.

Ask any executive in any sport. Football, basketball, baseball, hockey. They want someone who can balance out the confidence in themselves, but also someone who will do right by the team.

Fair assumption right?

Sanders may be a great kid, and a wonderful teammate who gets along with his guys, but as the old cliche goes, “actions speak louder than words.”

It was the biggest storyline of the 2025 NFL Draft. Sanders, who was originally a projected top-10 draft pick, kept slipping more and more as time went on.

Reports came out that he wasn’t taking pre-draft interviews seriously, he acted arrogant and unprofessional, with one assistant coach calling it “the worst formal interview I’ve ever been in my life.”

Yikes. 

The son of Hall of Famer, and now coach of the Colorado Buffaloes, “Prime Time” Deion Sanders knew he was good. The talent was evident by leading the FBS in completion percentage, and holds the all-time best career completion percentage in FBS history.

What team wouldn’t want him? Especially for a team like the Cleveland Browns who have been in quarterback hell since the blizzard of ‘93.

But when it was Cleveland’s turn to pick in the first round, fifth overall, it opted for defensive tackle Mason Graham.

It wasn’t until the third round till the Browns went with a quarterback, but instead went with Dillon Gabriel over Sanders. It looked like the Sanders experiment in Cleveland was over before it started until the Browns selected him in the fifth round.

A seemingly odd way to draft if you’re the Browns. Why draft two quarterbacks who can potentially play in the league in a few years?

It’s because Sanders had no interest in getting selected from other teams.

Perennial contenders with elite quarterbacks like the Baltimore Ravens and the Philadelphia Eagles were interested in drafting Sanders – but because he didn’t want to backup an already established starter, told those teams not to draft him.

In the fifth round, getting selected by any team is a blessing, especially with having the ability to back up the likes of a two time MVP in Lamar Jackson, or a Super Bowl winning quarterback like Jalen Hurts.

Sanders wanted the easiest path to start as soon as possible.

But here’s why that was a bad idea, and why Sanders was given the wrong advice.

History tells us that fifth round quarterbacks have a short lifespan in the NFL. Some of the more notable fifth rounders have been John Skelton, T.J. Yates, A.J. McCarron, Brett Hundley, Sam Howell, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, and Spencer Rattler.

It’s a rather underwhelming list. But Sanders seems to think that he’s good enough to compete with the Jacksons and the Hurts’ of the world. He has the talent, but as we’ve seen way too many times in the NFL – talent is only half the battle.

Some of the best quarterbacks in the league have backed up an elite and/or exceptional quarterback. Patrick Mahomes backed up Alex Smith in his first season. Jordan Love backed up Aaron Rodgers for three seasons. Rodgers backed up Brett Favre for three seasons. Even Jackson backed up Joe Flacco for a half of a season.

His father, Deion described the call that he and Shedeur had with Ravens Executive Vice President Ozzie Newsome, and the thought process that they both had was rather strange.

“He wanted to talk to Shedeur and wanted to talk to me. I put Shedeur on the phone… I don’t want to say how it went. But how in the world can somebody fault him for saying, er, thinking, ‘Why in the world would I go backup Lamar (Jackson) for 10 more years?’”

If the NFL Draft was final and you didn’t have the option to go anywhere ever, then this is an appropriate way of thinking.

However, things change rapidly in the NFL, and as a Hall of Famer, Deion should know that. There’s no way that Sanders would be backing up the same quarterback in 10 years.

If Jackson is performing at a high level after three years while Sanders is still with them, then a team who is desperate for a quarterback would’ve absolutely called to trade for him.

But instead, Sanders and his camp flipped the narrative and as a fifth round pick and a third-string quarterback, is now a distraction on a team already filled with distractions.

It’s bad business and it’s a poor career evaluation for someone who is loaded with All-Pro talent.

Sanders will have to compete with Gabriel since it’s looking like Flacco is on his last legs with the franchise. And what happens if Gabriel wins the job and plays at a high level?

Then this dog and pony show will be all for naught.