It started with a dance move. It’s turning into something a lot bigger.
As the Cleveland Browns wrapped up OTAs this week, a lighthearted video went viral of rookie Shedeur Sanders asking 40-year-old vet Joe Flacco if he’s ever hit a dance before. Flacco, dry as ever, laughed and shut it down.
“Definitely not,” he said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever hit a public dance move in my life.”
Shedeur’s reaction? Pure charisma. But behind the laughs and TikTok video's is something you can recognize immediately: respect, humility, and the quiet fire of a quarterback who’s out to prove everyone wrong.
A real connection
The clip was fun—and sure, the internet loved it—but what’s more important is the context. Shedeur isn’t just clowning around in Cleveland. He’s building relationships, fitting into a locker room that’s been through its share of turbulence, and doing what rookies are supposed to do: earn it.
During a livestream from his locker, Sanders said something that should silence the “entitlement” narrative that followed him into the draft:
“If Flacco told me to organize his locker every day, I would. Real talk, I go to him every day and say, ‘Bruh, you good? Need anything?’ It’s respect, you feel me?”
That’s the same Shedeur Buffs fans saw at Folsom. Leading. Learning. Listening. Only now he’s doing it in a quarterback room that includes Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and Dillon Gabriel—each with something to prove, each fighting for a role.
Competition is heating up—and so is Shedeur
Let’s talk football.
On June 4, Browns practice stats were released from 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 team drills. Gabriel led in completions, while Flacco had the fewest, likely due to a limited rep count. Shedeur? Three touchdowns. One interception—on a tipped pass.
On Tuesday, Shedeur turned in a perfect 10-for-10 passing day, racking up 140 yards and two touchdowns during team drills.
If these were preseason game statistics, he would be named the starting quarterback.
It’s clear Sanders and Gabriel are trending upward. With Deshaun Watson likely out for the season after a re-ruptured achilles, this isn’t a developmental year for whoever wins the job—it’s a wide-open opportunity.
And Shedeur is doing more than making it a conversation.
From “entitled” to trusted teammate
Let’s rewind. This time two months ago, Sanders was being picked apart in pre-draft evaluations. Questions about maturity. Questions about leadership. The “Coach Prime’s kid” stigma was loud.
Now?
He’s earning respect from a Super Bowl MVP and veterans like Jerry Jeudy who’ve been through real NFL battles. He’s laughing with them one moment and listening the next. He’s organizing lockers and throwing darts.
And whether it’s Joe Flacco or a Browns coach or FS1’s LeSean McCoy (who said yesterday that Shedeur “looks like the best quarterback in the building”), the message is the same:
The rookie gets it.
What this means for Colorado
If you’re part of Buffs Nation, you’ve got to be smiling.
Shedeur is repping the university well. He’s showing the same blend of professionalism and personality that helped carry CU the past two seasons. And now he’s doing it in the NFL, in the most chaotic QB room in football.
Can he win the job? Absolutely.
Is it guaranteed? Not even close.
But that’s never mattered to Shedeur Sanders.
He’s always been about the hard work (contrary to what people believe). And if that work leads to him starting Sundays in Cleveland this fall, don’t be surprised.
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