Shedeur Sanders draft reaction: Fifth-round pick dances, jumps in pool after Browns end draft slide

Morgan Moriarty

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Shedeur Sanders draft reaction: Fifth-round pick dances, jumps in pool after Browns end draft slide image

Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The long wait for Shedeur Sanders is finally over. Despite entering the 2025 NFL Draft expecting to be taken in the first round, Sanders wasn't selected until the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns. 

It was an eventful few days for Sanders. He threw a big draft party on Thursday evening and ended the night without being picked. On Friday, he was even pranked by a caller posing as Saints GM Mickey Loomis. 

As one can imagine, Sanders celebrated pretty hard after finally getting drafted. 

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Shedeur Sanders draft celebration 

Upon hearing his name on the broadcast, Shedeur danced with his older brother, Shilo.

At that point, the draft party was much more subdued than the previous two days, but Sanders still enjoyed what is always one of the biggest moments of any football player's life. The joy and relief was palpable. 

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Sanders also spoke afterward about trusting his faith in God throughout the process — something he did frequently throughout his draft slide — adding that he wasn't panicking while waiting for his name to be picked: 

One of the best moments of the celebration was when Sanders threw his shirt off and jumped into the pool: 

Sanders deservedly gets to celebrate all night long, even if the first two nights of the NFL Draft didn't go as planned.

Morgan Moriarty

Morgan Moriarty joined The Sporting News as a content producer in the fall of 2024. Her sports journalism career started at the University of Florida in 2012, where she graduated in 2015. She has covered college football and basketball, the NFL and numerous other major sports for outlets like the Tampa Bay Times, Saturday Down South, UPROXX Sports and SB Nation. She also covers college football for Bleacher Report, and is a featured guest on various CNN programs.