“He Went and Told His Daddy”: Shedeur Sanders Complained to Deion After Mistaking Ex-NFL Star’s Praise for Criticism

No good deed goes unpunished, and Keyshawn Johnson says he has the receipts. The man tried to compliment Shedeur Sanders on TV and, by his own telling, ended up in the middle of a family phone call.

The former NFL receiver and Super Bowl champion told former NBA player Matt Barnes on All The Smoke Unplugged that he wants to see Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders start again. Then he dropped a story about the one time Shedeur mistook his praise for criticism.

“I want to see him start, Shedeur, because the last time I said something about him on TV, he went and told his daddy. And then Prime had to call me and tell me to cuss his a** out.”

According to Keyshawn, Deion “Prime” Sanders called him afterward. Keyshawn says he had seen Shedeur just minutes earlier, and that he was “acting weird.”

Deion explained the situation, and Keyshawn promised to handle it the next time he saw Shedeur. The funny part is that Keyshawn says he never said anything negative in the first place.

“He thought I was saying something negative about him when I was the only one in all the media saying something positive about him. But he didn’t know. He just lumped y’all in.”

By Keyshawn’s account, Shedeur lumped him in with all Black journalists. Keyshawn told Shedeur he had the wrong guy, and he says Deion was mad at his son because “he’s just a kid.” That is Keyshawn’s version of events. Was it a real misunderstanding, or just a rookie under a microscope?

His praise is on the record. Back in 2025, after Shedeur fell to the fifth round, he said on FS1’s Speak that he viewed him as the best quarterback on the Browns.

“He’s going to be, in my opinion, one of the most popular athlete in the state this season.”

Now Keyshawn is back on the Shedeur train, and the timing is perfect. Shedeur started the final seven games of last season and went 3-4 with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Last Sunday, Shedeur started for Deshaun Watson, who cleared the concussion protocol but was inactive against the Saints.

He finished 19-of-31 for 297 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions, and his 114.6 passer rating was his best. Cleveland still lost 23-22 in overtime.

The game ended on a two-point throw to Denzel Boston that fell incomplete after Shedeur was pressured. The Browns also took five sacks.

It was a tale of two halves. Shedeur threw for just 38 yards before halftime, then produced 177 yards and two touchdowns in the final 5:21 of regulation and overtime. He also ran 10 times for 28 yards.

Keyshawn thinks the starting job should be Shedeur’s to lose. He argued the Browns will not re-sign Watson, so they might as well see what their future can do with the first team in a regular-season game.

He also pointed out that no quarterback is perfect, since every passer has a couple of close calls. And Shedeur did all of this on the road in his first start of the season.

The Browns are 5-4, and Monken has now made his decision for Week 10. Watson will return as the starter against his former team, the Houston Texans, on November 15. Monken said he was sticking with Watson based on his body of work through the first eight games, despite Sanders’ performance in New Orleans.

Deion has hinted at this before. When Watson was named the Week 1 starter, he said it publicly.

“And we all know what’s transpiring with Shedeur, although he’s playing extremely well.”

So will Shedeur get another start? If he does, maybe he will finally hear the compliment the right way this time.

The post “He Went and Told His Daddy”: Shedeur Sanders Complained to Deion After Mistaking Ex-NFL Star’s Praise for Criticism appeared first on EssentiallySports.