Shedeur Sanders response to latest Colorado, Deion Sanders press is a bad look

Shedeur Sanders is the early oddsmakers' favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. So he might want to think a bit more before he tweets belittling messages towards former teammates. The NFL is watching closer than ever.

Sanders undoubtedly misstepped on Tuesday when he responded to an article from The Athletic about Colorado transfers who were unhappy with the way they were treated by the program and head coach Deion Sanders.

One of those players was safety Xavier Smith, who detailed how he was pushed to leave the program. A quote from Smith was used in the tweet promoting the article. Sanders took offense.

"Ion even remember him tbh. Bro had to be very mid at best," Sanders tweeted.

An hour after that tweet, Sanders hopped on a Twitter Spaces where he and fellow Colorado teammates Kahlil Benson and Justin Mayers talked down on Smith's college stats and his move down below Power 5 level, as though his ability as a football player determined whether he should be taken seriously. They accused him of "lying for clicks." They noted that Max Olson, who wrote the article for The Athletic, has ties to Nebraska, a Buffaloes rival. They admitted during the 27-minute conversation that they hadn't read the article.

Shedeur Sanders looks terrible tweeting about ex-Colorado teammate

All Smith did was tell his story. He was on scholarship at Colorado. He had his world turned upside down by a coach who had players line up outside his office to be cut. He didn't even take issue with being cut, he just said it could have been done with "more compassion."

Sanders certainly never had to experience the pain of his program throwing him out.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Caleb Williams, faced waves of criticism for the smallest things. His love of high fashion, his habit of painting his nails, his show of emotions on the sideline, his availability to the media and his general persona were ripped apart by anonymous scouts and media. Yet you'd be hard-pressed to find an ex-teammate say a bad word about him. He earned rave reviews on that front. He certainly never spoke ill of someone who transferred from Oklahoma or USC. If Sanders thinks he won't face even more criticism for this kind of thing, he's mistaken.

None of this was a good look for Sanders. A little empathy and a lot of sense would go a long way.