Tony Grossi: Shedeur Sanders postgame interaction ‘shouldn’t have been that big of a deal’

On the field, Shedeur Sanders couldn’t have had a better preseason debut, looking poised and polished against the Carolina Panthers on Friday night. But after the game, Sanders once again found himself involved in controversy when a video was posted on social media of an interaction with ESPN Cleveland host Tony Grossi, who spoke about the interaction on Monday.

After Friday’s game, Sanders aired his grievances with Grossi, explaining how he believed that Grossi has only had negative things to say about him.

Ultimately, the situation didn’t get overly heated from either party. But interestingly, it was far different from how Grossi, who actually initiated the conversation with Sanders, expected the situation to go.

Speaking about the incident on Monday’s edition of The Daily Grossi show on ESPN Cleveland, Grossi explained how he initially called Sanders’ name to ask him one more question after his postgame press conference, but was instead blindsided by Sanders’ grievances about how he has been covered.

“One thing to note was that I initiated the conversation,” said Grossi. “He left the podium to walk to the locker room and I called his name to ask him another question. And that’s when he discussed what was on his mind. I was a little surprised he went into that because as I said, it was inaudible but I said, ‘Hey, this is your night man. This is a big night for you, have fun.’  But I appreciated the fact that he did not say what was on his mind from the podium, which other quarterbacks have done with me, which is very uncomfortable.

“I didn’t appreciate the fact that this interaction was filmed without my knowledge. It turns out, it was his brother, who is documenting everything from his rookie season. That’s fine, just now that I’m aware of it, I’ll be a little more careful and everything. But everybody that saw the video, it was good natured. I don’t know what caused us to laugh, I really can’t recall that conversation precisely. But we went on good terms.

“We had a couple other words in the locker room too. But I was a little surprised that, on his big night, and it was a big night for him with all of the circumstances, that he would raise this. That’s why I thought he was joking. It shouldn’t have been that big of a deal on his mind after his big night. Anyways, all is good. We saw each other today at practice and we move on.”

Interestingly, some high-profile media members haven’t been as quick to forget the viral moment, even citing this incident as a potential concern about his maturity, which has been a popular criticism of Sanders throughout his career.

But for Grossi, the interaction appears to be water under the bridge.