President Donald Trump harshly criticized NFL franchises for not drafting Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders in the first round of Thursday’s draft, calling all 32 team owners “stupid.”
Sanders, the son of NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, was not taken among the first 32 picks. While many mock drafts had Shedeur Sanders going in the first round — often to the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 21 — there was not a wide consensus he would be a first-round pick.
“What is wrong with NFL owners, are they STUPID?” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “Deion Sanders was a great college football player, and was even greater in the NFL. He’s also a very good coach, streetwise and smart! Therefore, Shedeur, his quarterback son, has PHENOMENAL GENES, and is all set for Greatness. He should be ‘picked’ IMMEDIATELY by a team that wants to WIN. Good luck Shedeur, and say hello to your wonderful father!”
Sanders, 23, was the Big 12 offensive player of the year for the Buffaloes last season. He is NBC Sports’ Connor Rogers’ 30th-ranked prospect in the entire class.
Trump has not been shy about voicing his opinions on the NFL in the past.
In September 2017, amid national anthem protests by NFL players, Trump said at a rally, “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, you’d say, ‘Get that son of a b---- off the field right now. Out! He’s fired!’”
Several owners publicly condemned Trump’s comments, calling them divisive and inappropriate.
Earlier this year, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league wouldn’t roll back its diversity, equity and inclusion practices after a Trump executive order seeking the elimination of those programs.
“We got into diversity efforts because we felt it was the right thing for the National Football League, and we’re going to continue those efforts because we’ve not only convinced ourselves, I think we’ve proven to ourselves that it does make the NFL better,” Goodell told reporters in February. “We’re not in this because it’s a trend to get into it or a trend to get out of it. Our efforts are fundamental in trying to attract the best possible talent into the National Football League both on and off the field.”
