Greetings from the sports desk located somewhere below the main deck of the Good Pirate Ship RedState. I had planned on this post being an examination of the NHL playoffs, but much to Sammy the Shark and Karl the Kraken’s displeasure, other sports demand attention this time through. However, we have sourced news of a comforting nature for our favorite sea monsters. Although their respective favorite NHL franchises did not make it into this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs, their primary minor league teams not only worked their way into the postseason but have both advanced to the second round. The Seattle Kraken’s AHL (American Hockey League) affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, is set to take on the Abbotsford Canucks. At the same time, the San José Sharks’ AHL squad, the San José Barracuda, will head for the mountains and a series against the Colorado Eagles. Let’s see if that is sufficient to keep those two happy …
That, and a fresh box of fish crackers.
Anyway, even with the NBA and NHL playoffs in full swing and baseball chugging along, the prime time (SWIDT) sports story from April 24 through 26 was the NFL Draft, held this year in the shadow of Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Presumably, the tundra has thawed by this time of year. If it hadn’t already, the heat emanating from Deion Sanders’ forehead over his son Shedeur, who played quarterback for his dad at Colorado, not being drafted until the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns would have sufficed to melt any and all ice instantly.
My colleague Bonchie has written twice about the media kerfuffle over Sanders the younger remaining undrafted until long after most professional football prognosticators and pundits believed would be the case.
Watch: Mel Kiper and Others Should Be Fired After Their Deranged Behavior Over Shedeur Sanders
To summarize, Bonchie has lambasted various media types for their rather hysterical (in more ways than one) reactions to Shedeur Sanders not being drafted until the fifth round, laying the blame for this on Sanders and his father’s attitude. At the same time, Bonchie has called for the aforementioned hysterical media heads to roll. I understand Bonchie’s points, but I’m going to disagree.
Let’s start with Deion Sanders, who has been a lightning rod for criticism since his days as a player at Florida State. When your nicknames are Neon Deion and Prime Time, it is a safe bet to assume your primary personality traits do not evoke the labels of meek and mild. Fair enough. That duly noted, Sanders backed up his talk with his play. He was a major league caliber baseball player and a Hall of Fame football player. Sanders has gone on to be a highly successful college football coach. It doesn’t matter whether you or I like the man. He has an unimpeachable résumé.
Is it any surprise that his son Shedeur has some of the same characteristics as his father? It is a fine line between confidence and cockiness. In this case, the outside perceptions of Shedeur most likely carry a strong influence directly impacted by his lineage. Also, Shedeur Sanders is hardly the only player in this year’s draft who recommends himself most highly. Ohio State quarterback Will Howard told ESPN before the draft that he believed he was the best quarterback in this class. No one batted an eye. For the record, Howard waited until the round after Sanders’ selection before being named by the Pittsburgh Steelers as the likely backup to Mason Rudolph, who, to date, has not made anyone forget Tom Brady.
Whether Sanders has what it takes to be an NFL-caliber quarterback remains a mystery until he gets on the field for the Browns, which leads to my next point. Even the most experienced and perceptive judges of playing ability get it wrong. The highest example of this was the GOAT Tom Brady, who every team in the NFL ignored until the sixth round of the 2000 draft when the New England Patriots figured he’d be as good as anyone to hold a clipboard on the sidelines while watching Drew Bledsoe — who was an excellent quarterback — play. How did that turn out? Going back two years before Brady entered the NFL, the Indianapolis Colts, who held the #1 pick in the 1998 draft, faced a difficult decision: Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf? Football people across the spectrum, not just sportswriters and variations thereof, fiercely debated who would be the better pro quarterback. The Colts went with Manning. The then-San Diego Chargers picked Leaf. You know the rest.
I once heard a coworker on a conference call with an employee at a different location. The other employee was in a frothing high dudgeon over a shipment to his office from where I worked, which had some issues. Mixed items were in the same box, someone at our end did not pack some things properly, and so on. Annoyances, to be sure, but to hear this person describe it at great length and volume, someone has committed enough mortal sins to shake the very foundations of heaven. My coworker patiently endured the rant for a commendable length of time before reaching their limit and silencing the complainer with three simple words: “Did anyone die?”
To date, zero fatalities have been recorded because either Shedeur Sanders was drafted much later than some believed he should be or any given sportscaster went beyond the pale in response. I have watched more than enough ESPN and variations thereof, along with listening to sports talk radio, both national and local, to know that such behavior is part of the scene. Collectively, over-the-top shticks bring the clicks far more than quiet, measured, informed discussions of sport. I prefer the latter. I am in the minority. If I weren’t, there would be much more talk and significantly less yelling in sports media. With this in mind, I count my blessings, evaluate my priorities, and, in doing so, note that getting worked up over Mel Kiper Jr. or Stephen A. Smith getting worked up does not make the list. I’ll enjoy the game instead.
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