It’s smokescreen season in the NFL, and Dan Patrick sees right through it.
The latest victim appears to be Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. As rumors swirl around a potential fall for Sanders if the Las Vegas Raiders do not select him with the sixth pick, NFL insider Josina Anderson called out a quarterbacks coach from a team with a top pick who is spreading info that Sanders is “arrogant” and “brash.”
Adding to Anderson’s report, Patrick on Tuesday explained how these media “pile ons” happen and why Sanders is suddenly subject to such intense criticism.
“Shedeur Sanders hasn’t thrown a football, hasn’t played a game in a couple of months. But you’re starting to get the feeling, I don’t want to say ‘smear campaign,’ but it does feel like you start to pile on,” Patrick said.
“And sometimes, the insiders are following insiders, and they want to make sure that they don’t miss on this. And it’s an echo chamber, it’s a circle. Now you start to hear, ‘hey nobody’s sold necessarily on Shedeur Sanders being a first-round draft pick.’ Where did that come from? That was quick.”
While Patrick can identify the media domino effect with reporting like this, he also understands where NFL teams might be coming from with Sanders. As NCAA athletes gain access to NIL money, the analysis of their mental makeup and personality is different than it used to be under amateurism. And in fairness, that matters much more with quarterbacks like Sanders than other positions.
“It’s an inexact science. It has been and will continue to be,” Patrick said. “You can go down through history of those who made themselves better when they got to the NFL. I just worry sometimes with NIL you might have players who are already treated as pros, they get to the pros and are maybe not putting in the time they need to to be great.”
The way Dan Patrick sees it, Sanders is merely the latest victim and the man of the moment. Especially as the son of Deion Sanders, who had plenty of critics in NFL media throughout his playing career, Sanders is going to face more scrutiny than others.
Whether these rumors from the alleged unnamed quarterbacks coach are true or not, in a twisted way this saga will test Sanders in its own way.
“With Shedeur Sanders, it feels like he’s the guy under the microscope right now. And you’re starting to hear, people are now saying things out loud that they may have thought,” Patrick added. “And this could be about Deion. And maybe Shedeur Sanders is arrogant or brash. The NFL will humble you … this is business.”
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.