Donald Trump’s administration is taking credit for catching Shedeur Sanders in his NFL Draft freefall.
On Friday, Trump posted on Truth Social about Sanders after the projected first-round pick fell into the second day of the draft.
“What is wrong with NFL owners, are they STUPID?” Trump said. “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!”
During a Monday briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked by Fox News reporter Peter Doocy if Trump deserved credit for Sanders being selected by the Browns in the fifth round.
She didn’t say no.
“All I will say is the president put out a statement and a few rounds later, he was drafted,” Leavitt said. “So I think the facts speak for themselves on that one.”
Trump’s comments came before the second and third round of the draft—where Sanders’s slide continued—before the Browns finally picked him Saturday.
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam both has tight Republican Party ties and a history of making draft-day decisions.
Haslam is a longtime Republican donor with a heavy influence in Ohio and the brother of Bill Haslam, who was the Republican governor of Tennessee from 2011 to 2019. Bill is expected to take over as owner of the NHL’s Predators this summer.
This past election cycle, Jimmy and his wife, Dee, donated around $2 million to Republican causes, including more than half a million dollars in total to the RNC and the Republicans’ House and Senate campaign arms. Neither Haslam brother donated to Trump’s campaign, with Jimmy and Dee donating to former Trump primary opponent Tim Scott; neither Haslam donated to Trump’s inauguration committee.
Jimmy Haslam famously ordered the Cleveland front office to draft Johnny Manziel in 2014 over Derek Carr or Teddy Bridgewater at the suggestion of a homeless man. The Browns have had 18 starting quarterbacks since Manziel.
Browns GM Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski were both shown having staid reactions to the Sanders pick, leading to speculation that Haslam ordered the move. Both men were asked about it in their press conference afterward.
“I think we’re probably just tired from the weekend,” Berry told reporters.
“Those clips, it’s not timed up to exactly the right time so I wouldn’t—don’t read too much into that,” Stefanski added.
