Shedeur Sanders shined in his preseason debut on Friday night, completing 14 of his 23 pass attempts for 138 yards and two touchdowns in the Cleveland Browns’ 30-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
Following the game, the NFL’s most famous fifth-round rookie addressed one of his most vocal critics, with footage captured by Deion Sanders Jr.’s Well Off Media showing Shedeur Sanders confronting ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Grossi.
In the video, Sanders can be seen singling out Grossi in the bowels of Bank of America Stadium. While the former Colorado star’s tenor remained upbeat, he questioned the longtime Browns beat reporter over why his coverage of him has been so negative.
“Tony, I be hoping you have something positive to say about me,” Sanders tells Grossi in the video. “You only say negative stuff about me. And I’m like, ‘I ain’t do nothing to you.'”
While Grossi’s reply is inaudible in the clip, he appeared to dispute Sanders’ claim.
“I ain’t hear nothing positive you’ve ever said,” the 23-year-old responded.
Whatever Grossi said after that elicited a laugh and a playful shoulder pat from the quarterback, who remained steadfast in his opinion of the negative coverage.
“What I do to you, Tony?” Sanders said, laughing as he walked away.
Shedeur Sanders addresses Cleveland-based sports journalist and Browns analyst Tony Grossi, who’s known for being critical and biased toward him.
“You always say negative stuff about me. I didn’t do nothing to you. I’ve never seen you say anything positive about me.”
(🎥: Well… pic.twitter.com/SGpmmyXF74
— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) August 9, 2025
For what it’s worth, Grossi did, in fact, have something positive to say about Sanders’ play on Friday night.
“I thought Shedeur was outstanding,” he said during an appearance on ESPN Cleveland following the game.
Grossi’s evaluation marks a departure from his recent comments regarding Sanders, as he’s made a habit of debating the rookie quarterback’s play with ESPN Cleveland host Tony Rizzo in recent weeks. Earlier this week, Grossi questioned the circumstances surrounding the 2024 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year missing a practice due to a sore arm, which led to a viral outburst from Rizzo during his daily radio show, The Really Big Show.
Rizz says Grossi is trying to use Shedeur’s sore arm as a negative agenda against him and is FED UP about it 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/FuhDtuknB3
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) August 4, 2025
Ultimately, Grossi gets paid for his opinion, and if he’s had a negative perception of Sanders’ play until Friday night, then it’s his job to share it. If anything, it’s a credit to him that he didn’t stick with his stance following his performance on Friday night, as it would have been easy for him to write it off as just a preseason game.
Conversely, while some may take issue with Sanders paying attention to the noise and singling out a reporter, his interaction with Grossi was seemingly good-natured. It’s also worth noting that calling out Grossi is largely a rite of passage when it comes to playing quarterback for the Cleveland Browns — just ask Baker Mayfield.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.