After falling to the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders was given a prime opportunity to prove his doubters wrong on Friday night.
Sanders, who head coach Kevin Stefanski announced on Wednesday would be starting the team’s preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers, put up a strong individual performance in the Browns’ 30-10 win. He completed 60.9% of his passes (14-23) for 138 yards and two touchdowns, in addition to scrambling for another 19 yards and not committing a turnover.
Current and former professional athletes were awestruck by Sanders’ debut. Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, South Carolina head women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley, Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy and, of course, Colorado head football coach (and Shedeur’s father) Deion Sanders were among the many sports figures who took to social media to sing their praises of the Browns rookie.
Add Karl-Anthony Towns to that list.
Early Saturday morning, Towns reshared a post from Nike’s official account on X, formerly known as Twitter, centered around Shedeur Sanders. The post included the caption “When you get your opportunity, create your next one,” and a photo of Shedeur Sanders holding a pumped fist to the sky (with overlayed text reading, “Only a matter of Time.”
Towns wrote in his repost, “Different! Keep that same energy,” with a flexed-muscle emoji.
Different! Keep that same energy 💪🏽 https://t.co/CH5ilzuzOt
— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) August 9, 2025
It remains to be seen how many more opportunities for playing time Shedeur Sanders will get, but if he continues playing at this level, more athletes will surely rally around him and continue supporting him throughout the 2025 season.
