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The 2025 NFL draft, politics, and racism [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-04-26

The big story of the 2025 NFL draft is the failure of any team to select Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders until the fifth round. Before the draft, the people who know about these things expected Sanders to be picked anywhere from high in the first round to somewhere in the second. Instead, he remained unchosen until the 144th pick, when the Cleveland Browns selected him.

Sanders was the 6th QB selected . He was not even the Browns' first pick at the position (Dillon Gabriel went in the third round). The team now has five QBs on its roster. Sanders will probably spend his first season on the PUP (physically unable to perform list) list. This is where teams park perceived marginal talents until they figure out if there's any upside for them.

Now that Sanders has been picked in a low round, analysts have weighed in on how suitable his game is in the modern NFL schemes. Does he protect the ball while scrambling? Are his throws crisp enough for a short passing game? Is he tough-minded enough to play with the big boys? Critics have pointed out that accomplished college QBs are no lock to be great in the NFL.

But this diary is not about sports and performance. It is about racism, politics, and the politics of racism in the NFL.

Let me establish that I am unqualified to have an informed opinion on the matter. Therefore, I will not offer one. However, Sanders' fall and the reactions to it have engendered strong opinions from people more qualified to talk about it — which doesn't mean they are necessarily right. It is those reactions that I am interested in.

Sanders is Black. Inevitably, some commentators have suggested, even outright stated, that racism is the reason for his fall. Jameel Bowman, a former Democratic US Representative from NY, tweeted that "America continues to fear strong black men who come from means and have a strong sense of themselves without submitting to the "dominant" culture." The full quote reads:

The NFL doesn't like Shaduer [sic] Sanders because he wears gold chains and talks like a rapper. They don't care that he's a leader, intelligent, tough and completed 77% of his passes with no o line and no running game. He's entitled but Eli Manning wasn't entitled when he refused to be drafted by San Diego? He's not athletic, but that didn't stop Joe Montana, Drew Brees or Tom Brady. America continues to fear strong black men who come from means and have a strong sense of themselves without submitting to the "dominant" culture.

Bowman had to specify that it wasn't Sanders's skin color that doomed him; it was his adherence to Black culture. The blanket racist argument is unsustainable as the first pick overall, Cam Ward , is also a Black QB. In addition, another Black QB, Jalen Milroe , was picked #92, two rounds earlier than Sanders.

FS1 Sports analyst Emmanuel Acho echoes Bowman's cultural argument. He said the NFL shunned Sanders because he didn't "code switch." His full quote was:

"Why didn't Shedeur get drafted in the first round? I got three reasons for y'all, I spent a lot of time, I was up until 1:00am last night really mulling over this decision, why didn't Shedeur get drafted in the first round. No. 1, he didn't code switch. What do I mean, 'he didn't code switch,' Shedeur Sanders did not change his identity or how he comes off for the sake of the decision-makers and who are the decision makers in the National Football League primarily non-minorities, primarily white people, he did not code switch, he stayed true to Shedeur. The problem is he didn't make himself more palatable to decision-makers, he didn't do it, and in job interviews, whether it's the National Football League or any job interview, oftentimes it behooves you to make yourself more palatable to decision-makers. Shedeur Sanders did not do that."

I cannot speak to the cultural imperatives, sense of self-worth, experiences, et al of a Black man. However, I have been on job interviews. I agree with Bowman when he said, "often times it behooves you to make yourself more palatable to decision-makers."

No doubt I have advantages in these interviews. Regardless, I still did everything I could to make myself "more palatable to decision-makers" than the other candidates. Isn't that how the game is played? Granted, I was not in the limelight. So my life, particularly my private life, was largely unknown to prospective employers.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that Sanders should have led a lie to make himself palatable to the NFL. He has a perfect right to do whatever he wants short of committing a crime — which the record says he never has. On the other hand, as an employer, the NFL has wide latitude in hiring as long as they do not break employment laws.

Sanders' draft experience and the reaction to it pose one question — was the shunned QB talented enough to go in the first round? Bowman compared Sanders to the 'unathletic' Montana, Brady and Brees. Let's note that Brees and Brady were drafted 24/25 years ago when the NFL looked more for pure throwers than multi-threat QBs. Also, Brees was the 32nd pick, not a draft-day darling. He did not start in his first season.

Brady is legendarily the most accomplished sixth-round pick in NFL history. His talent made him arguably the GOAT. Let Sanders also prove the NFL draft mavens are a bunch of bums who know nothing.

As for Montana, he was drafted in 1978, so how he is relevant is anyone's guess. But I'll play along. Bowman is wrong to say Montana was not athletic. In addition, he was selected #82 in the third round. Sanders could follow his example. Let your talent do the talking. No matter the round, the Browns did pick him. So they must think he has a chance of being a Brady or a Montana, or at least make the team — otherwise, why would they bother?

Other commentators have compared Sanders to Colin Kaepernick. Here I will have an opinion. Kaepernick's treatment by the NFL was a cowardly racist disgrace. The man proved he could play at the highest level. But he couldn't even get a job as a backup after he showed solidarity with the victims of racism? I imagine his treatment would have been different if he were white.

Racism in the NFL is systemic. The percentage of minority representation among coaches, the front office, and ownership falls short of the minority percentage of the general population. However, the NFL is moving in the right direction, even if it has not yet gotten to where it needs to be.

In addition. Roger Goodell, the NFL's long-time Commissioner, has stated that the NFL remains committed to diversity and DEI , which is a risky position in the current political zeitgeist. It makes it an organization better than many major law firms, technology companies, and other industries that have caved at the first sign of inconvenience.

I do not claim that the NFL is an ideal employer. But I don't know that there is any evidence it is aggressively racist. It could do a better job with guaranteed money and player safety. But I think the claim that a player can be 'too Black" for the League needs more foundation.

Especially as Sanders's father, Neon Deon, could hardly be described as a Black man who 'code-shifted' to make himself more palatable to white owners. And he was hardly the only Black player who failed to toe the corporate image line. Yet the NFL managed to survive.

I am not surprised that Bowman and Acho said what they said. Controversy is the coin of the Internet age. Pot-stirring is a profitable endeavor. But as I said at the top, I am not in a position to have an informed opinion. They may be right about the reasons for Sanders' fall. But I'm not sure I would bet that way,

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