Trump and Stephen A. Smith pile in on Shedeur draft snub: “stupid,” “damn disgrace”

Shedeur Sanders may have the best-known last name in this year’s NFL Draft, but through three rounds, his phone has stayed silent. That’s sparked outrage from two familiar faces – Donald Trump and Stephen A. Smith – who aren’t known for holding back.

The former president and the outspoken ESPN analyst both blasted the NFL after Sanders, the son of Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, went undrafted in the first, second, and third rounds.

Trump unloads on NFL owners

Trump, never shy about weighing in on sports, lit into NFL owners on Friday, calling them “stupid” for not selecting Sanders early. And that was before Sanders made it through the third round without hearing his name called.

Posting on his Truth Social platform, with his characteristic use of capital letters, Trump wrote:

’What is wrong with NFL owners, are they STUPID? Deion Sanders was a great college football player, and was even greater in the NFL. He’s also a very good coach, streetwise and smart!

‘Therefore, Shedeur, his quarterback son, has PHENOMENAL GENES, and is all set for Greatness. He should be ‘picked’ IMMEDIATELY by a team that wants to WIN.’

It’s not the first time Trump has tangled with the NFL. Back in the 1980s, he owned the New Jersey Generals in the upstart USFL, which collapsed after challenging the NFL head-on. But even so, he’s clearly watching the draft board with frustration, even if some saw their own mocking opportunity from his stance:

Is Shedeur the new Kaepernick?

If Trump’s take was sharp, Stephen A. Smith’s was cutting. The ESPN commentator took to X:

’This is a damn disgrace. How in the hell is @Shedeur not off the board, not drafted yet. Y’all still think this doesn’t have anything to do with teams hatin on @DeionSanders.’

Smith went further, comparing Sanders’ snub to Colin Kaepernick’s blackballing from the NFL, suggesting this could be a different version of the same story:

‘In a different way, this is Kaepernick all over again…..being kept out. A damn disgrace.’

That kind of rhetoric is sure to make teams squirm, but Smith wasn’t backing down.

What’s next for Sanders?

The draft isn’t over. Sanders could still come off the board in the later rounds. But the longer he waits, the louder the questions will get. Are teams wary of the circus that sometimes follows Deion Sanders? Or is there something deeper at play?

For now, Trump and Stephen A. are doing what they do best: turning up the heat.

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