Shedeur Sanders recently went viral for surprising his dad, Deion Sanders, at home in Colorado during the Cleveland Browns’ bye week. It’s been a rough start to his career, so the rookie QB decided to go home and get some much-needed love from the family. He opened up about it in a video while flying to the family compound.
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But while most saw this as a wholesome gesture that Shedeur decided to do, some analysts like Emmanuel Acho picked at it like a scab, questioning what it says about the young QB’s emotional strength. Acho raised some doubts, noting that the NFL is an inhumane league.
The former NFL player did acknowledge Shedeur’s honesty, but drew a comparison to how other players have endured much darker moments and still pushed through.
“The NFL is an inhumane league,” Acho stated on Speakeasy. “My dog, Marquise Goodwin, lost his child and played in a game that same day. Catches a touchdown pass, drops to his knees.”
In case you didn’t know, Goodwin was playing for the San Francisco 49ers when this happened. His wife suffered a miscarriage, and they had to deliver their baby early. Sadly, their child didn’t make it, but that didn’t stop Goodwin from suiting up against the New York Giants a few days later, where he caught an 83-yard touchdown pass.
Acho then referenced another situation where he himself was dealt a tough dose of reality.
“When I tore my MCL my rookie year against the Green Bay Packers, my parents didn’t have time to fly up for surgery. I had that surgery by myself,” Acho said.
It goes to show that the NFL is truly an inhumane league. Most coaches don’t care about what goes on in their players’ personal lives. As long as they’re on the field and producing for the team, they get treated like babies who can do no wrong. But once that goes away, they will cut players with little notice and harshly.
With all of this in mind, Acho doesn’t know if Shedeur can succeed in the NFL without his dad because we’ve never seen it. He also thinks that this early retreat to his dad could be a sign of how mentally weak he may be without Deion by his side. “We’ve just never had to see Shedeur succeed without his people,” said the analyst bluntly.
Acho then cited an interesting example of another player who experienced a decline in his performance after losing his best friend. That player was none other than Russell Wilson.
“A lot of people suggest that Russell Wilson was not a good player after his close friend, some say his best friend and sports psychologist, passed away. Trevor Moawad… Statistically, he was never the same player,” Acho pointed out.
Wilson and Moawad were very close. Shortly after his passing, the QB did a press conference talking about how much he meant to him. And, interestingly enough, Wilson has struggled statistically ever since it happened, going 23-35 with four different teams over that span.
This all led Acho to his ultimate point:
“To say, ‘I know Shedeur can succeed without his dad.’ Based on what? I don’t know. I don’t know that he can’t. I just don’t know that he can.”
Essentially, Acho implied that with Deion away, and Shedeur being emotionally “not that strong,” he doesn’t know if he will be the same player anymore, just like Russ after Moawad’s death. It’s a bit of a stretch, to be honest.
At the end of the day, though, as Acho said, we still don’t know much about Shedeur. Mainly because he hasn’t had the opportunity to play on the NFL stage yet.
Despite flashing some exciting plays during the preseason, Shedeur has been stuck as a backup all season. That’s why it’s hard to tell if the visit to his father was a sign of weakness or simply a way to get away from everything surrounding the Cleveland Browns and reset.
