The Cleveland Browns became the most talked-about team in the league during and after the 2025 NFL Draft, selecting Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round following months of speculation about whether he would be taken in the first round.
Sanders’ job now is to prove why he shouldn’t have been passed over so many times by every team in the NFL.
When Sanders chose jersey No. 12 with the Browns, many made the obvious connection to Tom Brady, who was also passed up in the draft many times before going on to win seven Super Bowls, but Sanders recently said that he had another reason.
“You get the hint, you get the hint,” Sanders said mentioning that his number was his father’s famous No. 21 backwards. “So, yeah, it felt good wearing it for sure. It felt good wearing it. Any number going to feel good wearing, it’s about what I do in a number, for real.”
Sanders wore No. 2 in college, but one has to wonder if he wanted to avoid that number in Cleveland in order to avoid comparisons to Johnny Manziel, another high-profile college quarterback who wore it during what became a disappointing tenure with the Browns.
Fellow rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who was selected in the third round, will wear No. 5, and they both may be in the mix to start at some point in the 2025 season, along with veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett.
No. 12 jerseys will likely be flying off the shelves, and Browns fans must be hoping this is the last quarterback’s jersey they have to buy for a long time.
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