Immature Shilo Sanders isn’t helping Shedeur’s QB1 battle with unacceptable comments to female reporter

May 1, 2026 - 20:00

Shilo Sanders has put his name in the headlines once again.

Defending a family member is one thing, but calling out an esteemed female Cleveland Browns reporter is far past the line of sporting integrity.

The Sanders family are never too far away from the headlines

Alas, that is exactly what Deion Sanders‘ middle son has done.

On Wednesday, Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot reported that $230 million Deshaun Watson appeared to have become the leading frontrunner to become Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the 2026 NFL season.

“Deshaun Watson emerged from the Browns voluntary minicamp last week with an edge over Shedeur Sanders in the two-man quarterback competition and has the inside track to be named the Browns QB1,” Cabot wrote.

Cabot therefore suggests that Shedeur Sanders is at risk of losing the starting job he earned from Week 12 of his rookie season last year, where he passed for 1,400 yards and seven touchdowns in seven outings, and was surprisingly named a Pro Bowl replacement.

“With my breaking news here that Deshaun Watson has taken the lead over Shedeur Sanders in the #Browns QB competition and has the inside track to win it, I think they should declare him QB1 asap and let the 1st team offense start to cook. There’s no time to waste,” she posted to X shortly after.

That was the statement which didn’t go down well in Sanders’ camp.

With that particular quote going viral on Instagram, Shedeur’s older brother Shilo publicly called out Cabot in the comments section writing: “Go make a sandwich Mary.”

Now, it can be inferred – to some, very limited, extent – that Shilo’s comments could be deemed as partially relating to Cabot’s choice of language when referring to the offense being able to ‘start to cook’.

However, Shilo’s particular phrasing is indicative of a fairly common sexist comment that many women – especially those who work in elite men’s sport – fall victim to from misogynistic trolls on a fairly regular basis.

To hear that from a former collegiate athlete with a huge social media following is outright unacceptable and immature – which further serves to highlight why he was stripped of the opportunity to make an NFL roster after going undrafted last year.

Shedeur Sanders #12 of the Cleveland Browns warms up prior to the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium on January 04, 2026 — Shedeur is fighting for the QB1 spot – a battle he appears to be trailing in

Shilo crossed the line defending his brother

Despite landing a training camp deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and having a very good preseason outing on debut, his on-field behavior, where he lost his temper and punched an opponent a mere two weeks later, ultimately saw him cut before the final 53-man roster was finalized.

His recent comments aimed at Cabot also won’t give him any brownie points if he decided to try and find his way onto an NFL roster, having previously joked the Browns QB could ‘pull some strings’ to try and get him an opportunity to achieve his dream.

Cabot’s classy response prompts Shilo to double-down

Cabot, on the other hand, responded with class and decorum.

Named the recipient of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2025 Bill Nunn Jr. Award for her decades-long contributions to football, she addressed Shilo’s comments on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland.

“Well, let me just say about that that I really do believe that I have been an inspiration for lots of women and young girls to know that you can go out there and do a good job in a man’s world, and take on all of the — all of that that comes with that,” Cabot said.

“And I know that there are so many women who have joined the football world, especially because of some of the things that I’ve been able to do over the years, and I’m happy about that and I know that will continue.

Brother Shilo, who was cut after training camp last summer, has gone viral for a sexist comment made to Browns reporter Mary Kay Cabot

And now we’ve got women in flag football, playing flag football all over the place, and I’m just happy that I have been able to help set the tone and open some doors in that way, and I know that will continue, and that’s just how I feel about that.”

While Cabot chose to take the high road, Shilo once again showed why NFL teams weren’t willing to take the punt on bringing him into their organization by doubling now on his comments.

“If you’re gonna be a reporter, be a reporter and report facts,” Sanders responded on his Twitch channel. “Whenever you have your opinion, and your opinion is always something hateful to Shedeur, then it makes it seem like it’s something weird. Like it’s an agenda that you have going on.

“And there’s plenty of women in this field that take this serious and take reporting football serious and actually do homework and study the game and get the statistics right and get the news right.

“But with you it’s so much emotion that I don’t want you to make women look bad when it comes to reporting, because you don’t have the will to actually want to report real things that are going on.

“So it don’t even make sense. You wanna go talk about this and that in minicamp? They don’t even have all the receivers. How you gonna say, ‘Oh, this is what I think is gonna happen’? We don’t care what you think is gonna happen.

Shilo Sanders sitting on the bench for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in pre-season — Sanders opportunity to have a shot at reaching the NFL may have taken a further hit

“Let Shedeur go practice. He don’t need to be going on Instagram and Twitter and stuff and always seeing you just bad mouth him. That’s what I got a problem with. You know what I’m saying? If it’s reported, it’s reported. You have facts, you have news.

“But when it comes to your opinion, you’ve been saying crazy things for the past — since he’s been there. So it’s like, just chill with that. Because it don’t make no sense, and it makes you look crazy like you don’t know what you’re talking about.

“And for all the women that actually take the time to go do their research and actually be real reporters and real journalists, then that’s gonna make them look bad, because you already know as a woman in this field of reporting football and sports, like, it’s hard.

“So don’t make it hard on everybody, just because you don’t feel like it. That’s all I gotta say about that.”

Attracting more negative attention to Shedeur

Yes, Sanders has been on the end of a plethora of scrutiny from all over the league, even prior to him being drafted by the Browns in the fifth-round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

Yes, as a close family member, you may be unhappy about comments made.

But in this day and age, being a high-profile athlete comes with a territory, which, for many, includes the unavoidable burden of social media.

Shedeur Sanders of the Cleveland Browns looks on from the sideline during the national anthem prior to an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Huntington Bank Field on December 28, 2025 — Sanders has been the subject of scrutiny before he even reached the NFL, but Shilo’s latest comments have perhaps had a negative effect on the Browns QB

Shedeur is a 24-year-old man, who is very accustomed to negative press and doesn’t need his older brother to babysit and jump to his defense online.

If anything, Shilo’s viral comments could have negatively impacted his brother, attracting more attention to him and putting him under even more scrutiny.

It is certainly a distraction that he could really do without while he is in the midst of a closely-fought battle with veteran Watson to prove that he deserves the opportunity to keep his starting job in the NFL – and fight for his future in the league entirely.

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