When Shedeur Sanders finally heard his name called in the 2025 NFL Draft, it was well into Day 3. A quarterback, who was once projected to be a sure-shot first-round pick, had slid all the way to be a No.144 pick. Luckily for him, the Cleveland Browns saw value in him while 31 other teams seemed as disinterested as possible. This raised an important question: What caused one of college football’s most talked-about stars to tumble so low?
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Former NFL offensive lineman and current CBS analyst Ross Tucker believes he has part of the answer to the question. Appearing on The Dan Patrick Show, Tucker shared a behind-the-scenes story from a CBS broadcast assignment last year. Despite the incident appearing minor at first glance, it could speak volumes about why some NFL teams backed away.
“The way you conduct yourself, the way you treat people — it matters,” Tucker said plainly, before diving into a detailed anecdote about a missed production meeting with Sanders in Boulder.
Tucker was assigned to call the Colorado Buffaloes–Colorado State Rams game and made special arrangements to fly in early, lining up an interview with Shedeur Sanders after practice. But once there, he was told that the quarterback couldn’t meet him, reportedly due to Sanders getting treated by the medical team following a rough outing against Nebraska.
Naturally, the CBS analyst didn’t make a fuss. He then flew to do another game before returning for production meetings a couple of days later. That’s where things got weird.
“We talked to Deion — he was great. The coordinators — great. But no Shedeur. We weren’t really given a reason,” Tucker recalled.
“And that’s very unusual. He’s the starting quarterback. Especially a high-profile guy like that.”
As Tucker left the hotel later that evening, he spotted Sanders sitting casually in the back of a pickup truck outside. No team obligations. No schedule conflict. Just not present for what most starting QBs treat as a routine part of game week. As it turned out, this sour experience was the one Tucker chose to let “NFL people” know.
“I kind of regret not walking up and introducing myself. Or asking him why,” Tucker continued.
“NFL people asked me what I thought of Shedeur. And I said, ‘I didn’t get to talk to him.’ Maybe he’s a great kid. Maybe not. But I told them the story — and they just kind of nodded their heads.”
That silent head nod, Tucker implied, says a lot.
“It just made me wonder how many other stories are out there like that,” he added. “Where Shedeur did things that weren’t customary. He did things non-traditionally.”
It seems that Tucker is not the only person with this kind of sentiment and opinion for Shedeur. In the NFL combine in March, one of the team’s assistant coaches, who did not wish to be named, called Deion’s son ‘unprofessional and brash’ as per Josina Anderson, the NFL reporter.
Tom Pelissero had also written recently about another assistant coach’s take on Sanders up close. He believes Shedeur gave “the worst formal interview I’ve ever been in in my life”, not stopping short of calling him ‘entitled’ too.
Skipping a production meeting may not sound like a deal-breaker. But as the former NFL star explained, especially at the quarterback position, teams want to see you do the little things — the boring stuff, the behind-the-scenes stuff — consistently and without excuses.
“Already in college, he was getting out of things you’re supposed to be doing,” Tucker said. “What’s it going to be like if he’s a first-round pick?”
And for many NFL teams, it’s the kind of question that makes you slide down the draft board.
