‘Pierce your heart’ – Deion Sanders makes feelings clear on Kevin Stefanski’s brutal Shedeur decision

Dec 8, 2025 - 14:45

The Tennessee Titans have finally joined the rest of the NFL.

This comes as the Titans recorded their second win of the season with a 31-29 victory over the Cleveland Browns.

Cam Ward #1 of the Tennessee Titans and Shedeur Sanders #12 of the Cleveland Browns — Ward and Sanders faced off against each other for the first time in their NFL careers

Deion Sanders meets his son Shedeur Sanders #12 of the Cleveland Browns prior to a game against the Tennessee Titans — Deion Sanders was in attendance to watch his son post the best peformance of his career

Two rookie quarterbacks went up against each other in No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders, who suffered an all-time draft slide to the fifth round and 144th overall.

Whilst Sanders, in his third successive career start, posted the better quarterback performance, recording 393 totals yards for four total touchdowns and an interception, it was Ward and the Titans who put the most points on the board.

Cleveland had a chance to tie it late on in the fourth quarter after Sanders marched his team 80 yards down the field, capped off with a short pass left to rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr., with the Browns needing to complete the two-point conversion to send the game into overtime.

But head coach Kevin Stefanski opted to take his quarterback – who had the hot hand all day – off the field in such a critical moment in the contest.

Instead, rooking running back Quinshon Judkins took a direct snap and ran to his right, but at the crucial moment, mishandled the ball with another rookie in wide receiver Gage Larvadain running in the opposite direction for the reverse.

In a slight state of panic, Judkins tried to throw the ball across the field to Larvadain, but it fell short and incomplete, sealing the victory for Tennessee.

Following the decision not to have Sanders on the field, the 23-year-old’s father, NFL icon and Hall of Famer Deion Sanders took to X (formerly Twitter) to issue a response.

“Wow! But guess what GOD IS SO SO SO SO GOOD! We’re gonna praise him consistently with Passion & Purpose! #Dad @ShedeurSanders @DeiondraSanders @DeionSandersJr @ShiloSanders @shelomi_sanders,” he posted on X, tagging his family members.

“Believe Believe Believe! When someone shows u who they are Believe them. You may be uncomfortable & it may pierce your heart but the pain u feel right now is far less than the damage u will encounter in the future. Pick your head up & keep your composure baby. GO!”

Sanders speaks out as Stefanski continues to be under fire

In his post-game press conference, the Browns quarterback was asked whether he wished he had the ball in his hand to try and tie the game, and once again defended his head coach.

“If I’m out there any play, I wish I would always have the ball in my hand,” Sanders said. “But that’s not what football is.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski of the Cleveland Browns looks on from the sidelines in the second quarter of a game against the San Francisco 49ers — Stefanski’s decision-making has been called into question for large parts of the season

Shedeur Sanders #12 of the Cleveland Browns celebrates a fourth quarter touchdown against the Tennessee Titans — Sanders insisted he would never go against a coach’s play call postgame

“Sometimes you gotta run the ball. Sometimes you’ve got to kick a field goal. That’s the game and the most important thing is the ball.

“So in any situation, of course you would want to, but I know we’ve practiced something, and we’ve executed it in practice and we just didn’t seem to this day. So I would never go against what the call was.”

Stefanski accepted the blame for the failed two-point conversion attempt, “Not going to get into all the specifics but obviously it did not go as we thought it would.

“I make every call. … I’m responsible for all of it.”

But this isn’t the first time this season, nor in his coaching career with Cleveland, that Stefanski’s decision-making has been questioned.

Earlier in the season, there was a huge reluctance from Stefanski to want to even give Sanders first-team reps, with him later revealing that he wanted to redshirt the quarterback’s rookie campaign.

Dillon Gabriel #5 and Shedeur Sanders #12 of the Cleveland Browns look on prior to an NFL Preseason 2025 game against the Los Angeles Rams — Sanders edged out Gabriel for the starting job after the Oregon QB suffered a concussion

In spite of this, Sanders worked his way up to the starting role from being the fourth-string, albeit with the help of Kenny Pickett being cut, Joe Flacco being traded mid-season, and a concussion to fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel.

With Gabriel – when healthy – having failed to impress, had he not got injured, then there is no telling whether Sanders would have been given an opportunity at all.

But after posting his best performance to date – albeit in a defeat – it is Sanders who appears to have had the last word, with Stefanski’s reluctance to insert the former Colorado star into the lineup earlier in the season potentially set to cost him his job.

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