Surprisingly, most of the talk about the Cleveland Browns’ four-man quarterback battle has actually been about the football and what’s been happening at minicamp. Refreshing. But that couldn’t last forever. The one negative about the increased coverage of the Browns’ QB battle has been the microscope on rookie fifth-round pick, Shedeur Sanders.
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He was criticized for his attitude during the pre-draft process despite no off-field issues or incidents. That’s not the case anymore. Well, kinda.
It depends on where you rank speeding tickets in the realm of NFL player misdemeanours. Sanders was stopped for going 101 mph in a 60 mph zone recently. If you’re a regular joe that has ever tried to push the limits of your car’s speedometer, like NBC’s Mike Florio, you probably don’t rate this is an incident that should cause any panic.
“Let he who has never crossed the 100 mph barrier, cast the first stone. I’ve done it. I’m sure most of you, at some time or another in your life, you have given in to the temptation to see what it feels like to get your car to 100 mph. … I’m not condoning it. Because I’m assuming that under the right conditions, with no other cars around, straight, for the most part, highway, full control of the vehicle, favorable weather conditions. I got no problem with somebody testing out the gaskets and seeing if it can get to 100 and seeing what it feels like when it gets there.”
It was, however, Sanders’ second such speeding ticket this month. He received a similar citation for going 91 in a 65 on June 5. Browns officials have said that Sanders is dealing with the tickets. At a charity softball game, Sanders also somewhat addressed the incidents: “I’ve made some wrong choices, I can own up to it—I learn from them.”
But like Florio said, this really isn’t a big deal depending on the circumstances. It certainly doesn’t seem to be anything like the reckless driving charge that Rashee Rice picked up for a hit-and-run that caused damage to four cars in a street racing incident last year. And he didn’t even get suspended for that one.
“But if you’re doing it in a Rashee Rice setting, that is irresponsible, that’s reckless, and that’s wrong. I don’t know anything about the circumstances for Shedeur Sanders’ 101 mph violation in a 60 mph zone. … I could just see that some people would look at that and say, ‘he didn’t learn whatever lesson there was to be learned from falling to pick No. 144.’ I say it’s apple and oranges. But, I understand perception can be reality.”
In the grand scheme of things, you don’t want anyone driving that fast on public roads. But it is understandable that some will try to test their car’s limits from time to time. As long as it’s under safe circumstances that don’t result in any damage or harm to any property or people, a citation seems enough.
Compared to the type of grisly activities other NFL players have gotten up to (manslaughter, domestic abuse, sexual assault, DUIs, etc.), these citations arguably come off as tame. Still, it’s not the type of decision you’d want Sanders to be making, considering the scrutiny on the 23-year-old.
