A man is suing the NFL for $100 million, claiming the draft’s treatment of Shedeur Sanders caused him emotional distress.
DALLAS — If you watched the 2025 NFL Draft, odds are you may have been a little surprised to see Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, son of Cowboys legend Deion Sanders, fall to the fifth round.
Sanders was eventually drafted No. 144 overall in the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns. However, the slide seemingly affected one man so much that he has opted to file a lawsuit against the National Football League.
According to the lawsuit, the man, “John Doe,” is requesting that the NFL acknowledge that they caused emotional distress, issue a retraction of “slanderous statements” made about Sanders, and pay $100 million in damages.
In an interview with WFAA’s Scoop Jefferson, the man said he felt helpless while watching the NFL Draft and seeing Sanders fall again and again.
“I felt victimized, I felt traumatized,” the man told WFAA. “I mean, I was listening to a lot of the dog whistles that, if you lived the Black experience, you heard certain overtures coming from… people that were reporting on the draft.”
He said many people covering the draft said that Sanders “had to be humbled,” which he went on to question and compare to a “slavemaster-subject type relationship.”
The man said it created a lot of anxiety for him to watch Sanders, who he said just wants to compete at the next level, fall in the draft and not be able to do anything about it because of those who control it.
“It’s very obvious,” the man said when asked if he thought the NFL conspired to affect the outcome of the draft. “Not only is it obvious to me, Boomer Esiason himself said that he had inside information that Shedeur had to be taught a lesson.”
Despite the ongoing litigation, the man told WFAA that this won’t affect his viewership of the NFL, as he is a die-hard fan of the Las Vegas Raiders. However, he made sure to add that he just wants transparency.
The man was then asked what he would tell Shedeur Sanders if he could.
“I would just say, you know, just keep faith in God,” the man told WFAA. “God always works in mysterious ways. You know, although I know you probably want to throw these punches yourself, and you’re not in position to — don’t worry about it, God got you.”
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
