Eric Dickerson Claims Teams Were Told To Not Draft Shedeur Sanders

[Lost]

1 hour ago, Logic said:

 

From the posted article:

"Consider this. Sanders fell (we were told after the draft) because he viewed the pre-draft process as he was being recruited, not as he was being interviewed. He was essentially pushing back against the “honor and a privilege” nonsense. If his approach had been ratified by a high selection in the draft, others may have done the same.

And the NFL does not want the cyborgs to become self-aware.

So it’s not crazy. In the hidden (until it wasn’t) collusion ruling, the arbitrator found that the NFL’s Management Council, with the blessing of the Commissioner, encouraged teams as a result of the Watson contract to resist fully-guaranteed contracts. Would it be nuts to think that the league, which has made the draft into a massive offseason tentpole event by perpetuating the notion that it’s a Harry Potter sorting-hat ceremony, will react negatively to any player who doesn’t play along?

“It’s a job interview.” We hear it every year. Players get poked and prodded and interrogated and scrutinized. For the system to work, the players need to submit. If they ever realize the power that comes from saying, “It’s an honor and a privilege for you to be able to employ us,” the whole thing could fall apart.

It’s all about power. It’s all about showing those who don’t have the power that there are consequences to not yielding to the power."

 

I just don't see it as collusion.   The NFL didn't make an example of him.  He made an example of himself.   No successful business in the world is gonna want to hire someone that has no interest in going through the interview process.   Even if you have all the talent and skill in the world, I would think the employer would want to ask a few questions and make sure you're a proper fit for their organization and not some locker room cancer type.   

[Pete]

9 minutes ago, Lost said:

 

I just don't see it as collusion.   The NFL didn't make an example of him.  He made an example of himself.   No successful business in the world is gonna want to hire someone that has no interest in going through the interview process.   Even if you have all the talent and skill in the world, I would think the employer would want to ask a few questions and make sure you're a proper fit for their organization and not some locker room cancer type.   

I read a couple GMs say that Sanders was the worst interview they have ever heard.  He seems very entitled and narcissistic. Two repulsive personality traits

[transient]

1 hour ago, Nephilim17 said:

He apparently deliberately tanked interviews with certain teams so as not to get drafted by them. Deion said the year before his sons won't be playing for certain teams, and it would be an Eli Manning-like situation if certain teams drafted them.

Can't imagine why a 4th round talent with a 1st overall ego and a Primetime father who spouted this nonsense pre-draft would have then fallen in the draft. It's quite puzzling. 🤔

[JP51]

2 hours ago, Mikie2times said:

It's a really interesting concept to just have all the players say, ya, I'm not participating in your crap. 

Its like Kids.. parents have to keep up the illusion of control... but in the end... do they really have control if the kid is defiant...   

[4th&long]

So the browns didn't listen? No wonder losers! 

[RyanC883]

Sounds like BS to me.  Teams just didn’t want Deion drama.  Why would the league care about that?  If anything it would be more content for NFL network. 

[Logic]

1 hour ago, Jalan81 said:

There was nothing in this to affect the league. Zero financial, zero political. Actually more to be lost as the racial aspect could have blown up. He tried to control where he would end up and it blew up I his face, nothing more nothing less. 

Did you read the PFT article? It points out exactly what the league would've had to gain by doing this.

[Neo]

1 hour ago, MJS said:

There have been many CLAIMS of collusion in the past, even recently, but very few incidences of PROVEN collusion. I find that most of these claims don't hold much water and are impossible to prove even if there is a little smoke to them.

 

Even the Kaepernick situation. Why would any team want to take on the media storm for a declining, backup level QB? That didn't take collusion. It took common sense. Yes, they ended up settling with him, but not for very much money and probably just to make it go away. They never admitted any guilt whatsoever in that situation, nor were found guilty.

 

 

No disagreement.    When you reply to a post, it’s often viewed as a counter argument.

 

The NFL has one product.   It’s competition.   It’s dressed up and presented many ways.   Game fixing, referees favoring an outcome, the NFL “wanting this franchise or that franchise” to win are all examples of anti competitive behaviors.    Collusion ideology is a weed that grows in gaps in understanding.   Collusion is how we explain the otherwise unknown or unknowable.   Now, I personally am a believer in God.   However, non believers often call religion a way to explain the unexplainable.   Good people, all.

 

Now, that’s not to say owners make joint decisions.   Going to 17 games wasn’t collusion, it was a business decision.   Modifying kick offs wasn’t collusion, it was a tactic to reduce injury and introduce excitement, and so on.

 

Shedeur fell on his own.  Time will tell if GMs were smart or dumb.

[Augie]

2 hours ago, Nephilim17 said:

He apparently deliberately tanked interviews with certain teams so as not to get drafted by them. Deion said the year before his sons won't be playing for certain teams, and it would be an Eli Manning-like situation if certain teams drafted them.

 

And yet, he’s a Brown and third on the depth chart. How did that strategy work out for them? 

 

His talent does not match daddy’s ego. 

[dcinmuncie]

Unless you’re a sure thing top 5 pick, you can’t act the way shadeur is reported to have acted 

 

I read a story where his father (an obvious, no brain top 5 pick) refused to take a 2 hour test for the giants (or jets maybe) because he said he’d be long gone before they picked 

 

 

and he was right because he’s generational 

 

his son is not 

[Captain Hindsight]

1 hour ago, MJS said:

There have been many CLAIMS of collusion in the past, even recently, but very few incidences of PROVEN collusion. I find that most of these claims don't hold much water and are impossible to prove even if there is a little smoke to them.

 

Even the Kaepernick situation. Why would any team want to take on the media storm for a declining, backup level QB? That didn't take collusion. It took common sense. Yes, they ended up settling with him, but not for very much money and probably just to make it go away. They never admitted any guilt whatsoever in that situation, nor were found guilty.

Yeah Kaep was blackballed for sure, but if he was playing like Josh Allen or Joe Burrow, he would have been on a team

[ControllerOfPlanetX]

“I will make myself relevant again.” —- Eric Dickerson.

[Bad Things]

"I tell you this much, What I heard from someone..."

 

[BarleyNY]

2 hours ago, QLBillsFan said:

So the difference is… Mannings interviewed well. SS was above it. 

Manning did interview well, then told SD to pound sand. He told them that he wouldn’t play for them and to trade him to the NY Giants. Sanders isn’t nearly a perfect prospect and he certainly messed up the pre draft process. But he never told any team he was above playing for them. 

[Steve Billieve]

3 hours ago, Logic said:

 

From the posted article:

"Consider this. Sanders fell (we were told after the draft) because he viewed the pre-draft process as he was being recruited, not as he was being interviewed. He was essentially pushing back against the “honor and a privilege” nonsense. If his approach had been ratified by a high selection in the draft, others may have done the same.

And the NFL does not want the cyborgs to become self-aware.

So it’s not crazy. In the hidden (until it wasn’t) collusion ruling, the arbitrator found that the NFL’s Management Council, with the blessing of the Commissioner, encouraged teams as a result of the Watson contract to resist fully-guaranteed contracts. Would it be nuts to think that the league, which has made the draft into a massive offseason tentpole event by perpetuating the notion that it’s a Harry Potter sorting-hat ceremony, will react negatively to any player who doesn’t play along?

“It’s a job interview.” We hear it every year. Players get poked and prodded and interrogated and scrutinized. For the system to work, the players need to submit. If they ever realize the power that comes from saying, “It’s an honor and a privilege for you to be able to employ us,” the whole thing could fall apart.

It’s all about power. It’s all about showing those who don’t have the power that there are consequences to not yielding to the power."

I agree with you, but I don’t think there’s some congress of powerful people somewhere colluding in secret.

 

I think any observant spectators realized that the circus was tanking his draft stock.

 

A conversation here or there is not exactly collusion.

[Mikie2times]

People should read the article before making judgement. The "draft" makes the league a ton of money. If the players stop playing ball in the pre draft spectacle the NFL will lose money. None of these guys have contracts. It's basically NIL all over again with an entity profiting off you while not sharing the wealth. I don't think Shedeur wanted to play along. He treated the process as if he was doing the interviewing. Which is fine. The best employees do that all the time. Some might argue Sanders is not that and that is why he fell. Which could very well be true, but it could also be true that he pushed back against the "NFL way". Which we have seen historically has led to collusion, cover ups, and deception for the greater good. The almighty dollar. This story might have more legs than people think, I think.   

Edited August 22 by Mikie2times

[HOUSE]

There were only three teams willing to draft this guy

1. The Cleveland Browns

2. The Cleveland Browns

3. The Cleveland Browns 

[Rochesterfan]

4 hours ago, Logic said:

 

From the posted article:

"Consider this. Sanders fell (we were told after the draft) because he viewed the pre-draft process as he was being recruited, not as he was being interviewed. He was essentially pushing back against the “honor and a privilege” nonsense. If his approach had been ratified by a high selection in the draft, others may have done the same.

And the NFL does not want the cyborgs to become self-aware.

So it’s not crazy. In the hidden (until it wasn’t) collusion ruling, the arbitrator found that the NFL’s Management Council, with the blessing of the Commissioner, encouraged teams as a result of the Watson contract to resist fully-guaranteed contracts. Would it be nuts to think that the league, which has made the draft into a massive offseason tentpole event by perpetuating the notion that it’s a Harry Potter sorting-hat ceremony, will react negatively to any player who doesn’t play along?

“It’s a job interview.” We hear it every year. Players get poked and prodded and interrogated and scrutinized. For the system to work, the players need to submit. If they ever realize the power that comes from saying, “It’s an honor and a privilege for you to be able to employ us,” the whole thing could fall apart.

It’s all about power. It’s all about showing those who don’t have the power that there are consequences to not yielding to the power."

 

Yeah - he acted like a jerk in what is considered to be a job interview and that caused him to fall - exactly as it should be.  If he was truly a #1 - the Browns would be finding a way to start him rather than having to figure out if he or Gabriel will be back-up/3 rd string to Joe Flacco.

 

The fact is guys that have skipped the draft process and guys have treated the pre-draft process poorly have still been drafted high in the past if they had elite talent.  If you have mediocre talent, and less actual training than others - those players have fallen.

 

Sanders has a chance to prove people wrong and it has started with 2 speeding tickets and some highlights and bad plays.  He still has a long way to go.

 

 

[QLBillsFan]

30 minutes ago, BarleyNY said:

Manning did interview well, then told SD to pound sand. He told them that he wouldn’t play for them and to trade him to the NY Giants. Sanders isn’t nearly a perfect prospect and he certainly messed up the pre draft process. But he never told any team he was above playing for them. 

Other than being unprepared for his interview? That sends a message just as clearly. 

[folz]

If there was collusion, i.e. if the league, commissioner, other owners all said don't draft him, then why did Cleveland draft him? Someone might say, no one should draft him, I don't like his attitude, and some others may agree, but what are the consequences for going against the collusion? For there to be collusion, then everyone would have to agree/cooperate and/or there would have to be consequences if you don't go along with the plan. Why would Cleveland go against the league then? And is it really collusion if he actually got drafted? Obviously Cleveland did not participate in the collusion. Was the collusion specific? No one draft him in the first three rounds, after that whatever.

 

Take a team like the Bills, say Josh was 10 years older and we were looking for a replacement to groom. Is there any way that Beane and McDermott are going with Sanders? No, not a Bills DNA type of guy. How many other GMs and coaches think the same way? There did not need to be collusion for this to happen.

 

Now, I don't put anything "negative" past the NFL at this point. I'm sure there are tons of questionable issues and practices in the league. But in this situation, I really don't see it. I think he could have refused to workout at the combine, but if he went in with a good attitude and took the interviews seriously, he could have maximized his draft status. But honestly, how many teams want a guy with apparent attitude and/or ego problems? Or who tells you (in words or actions) that he doesn't want to play for your team? Remember a franchise QB is the face of your franchise. They are the ones on TV and at community and charitable events representing your organization the most. You want them to be a leader on the field and in the locker room. If he can't rally his teammates around him (because they don't like him or he's an egomaniac) and there isn't cohesion in the locker room, you aren't going to be very successful, even if the guy is very talented. We aren't talking about a WR or DE with some questions about character/attitude, we are talking about the QB, the #1 guy you need on board and leading the other guys.

 

I mean, where in the world is Josh Rosen? How about Ryan Leaf? or Vince Young? or Jeff George? They may not have been good enough in the long run, skill-wise...but their attitudes and temperaments definitely made sure their careers were short and unsuccessful. And obviously the teams that drafted them regretted it, much more so than just a standard nice, good attitude guy bust (like an EJ Manuel or JP Losman)---because they bring so many headaches on top of not playing well. No one wants one of those guys...especially if he isn't head-and-shoulders above the rest talent-wise. It's just that simple.

 

But as others have said, Sanders is in the league, so he has every opportunity now to prove everyone wrong about him or to be able to mature and grow into a franchise QB. I don't expect it to happen, but that's only up to Shedeur and Cleveland at this point, not any of us.