Shedeur Sanders’ draft night got brutal, and so did the memes
Shedeur Sanders’ NFL draft slide turned into a full-blown meme takeover as fans reacted to his empty couch and unpicked name.
Despite entering the 2025 NFL Draft with high expectations, Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders found himself sliding past pick after pick and into meme history. Once seen as a potential early pick, Sanders’ stock had already been slipping in the weeks before the draft. But when the Tennessee Titans selected Cam Ward at number one overall, the internet knew it was going to be a long night for the Buffaloes star.
As the first round progressed and Sanders remained unpicked, sports fans on X took notice. More than that, they turned his draft night misfortune into meme gold.
Shedeur Sanders was not selected in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft pic.twitter.com/8Xk4DGeNm5
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 25, 2025
Draft night speculation heated up days before the event
Two days before the draft, rumors of Sanders’ potential slide picked up steam. During an NFL Live segment, ESPN’s Adam Schefter said, “We are on a collision course to where he could go down to No. 21 and the Pittsburgh Steelers...If no Shedeur at 21, we might get one quarterback tonight.” That prediction didn’t pan out: Sanders wasn’t selected at 21, or anywhere in the first round.
Adding fuel to the fire, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero shared an anonymous assistant coach's scathing review of Sanders' pre-draft interview. The coach reportedly called it “the worst formal interview I've ever been in,” and criticized Sanders for being “entitled,” having “horrible body language,” and “taking unnecessary sacks.”
These comments stoked debate online. While some analysts argued Sanders’ talent still warranted a top pick, others pointed to his perceived arrogance and off-field media presence, largely tied to his father, Deion Sanders, as red flags.
Giants just took Jaxson dart over shedeur sanders .. they’re never beating the black qb allegations pic.twitter.com/etIDfrOgxj
— John (@iam_johnw) April 25, 2025
The Shedeur Sanders empty couch meme takes off
However, once the live draft feed repeatedly cut to Sanders’ empty couch, where he was meant to be watching the draft from, fans turned confusion into comedy. The couch shots became meme fodder, with one user joking, “Oh no, we never got to see Shedeur Sanders sit on that green couch.”
Another quipped, “The live shot of Shedeur Sanders empty legendary couch is chefs kiss.”
"Holy cow! Shedeur Sanders looks like a couch! Who the hell would draft a couch at qb?" wrote @OGOGrady.
The NFL passed—but the timeline didn't
In true internet fashion, not everyone offered sympathy. One fan lamented, “This is already one of the worst QB Drafts I can remember, and Shedeur Sanders didn’t even get drafted in the 1st round. That’s very telling.”
This visual absence became a central image in the Shedeur Sanders meme saga. Some imagined him walking out mid-draft.
Shedeur Sanders every time a name is called pic.twitter.com/nwJY9J4FDx
— ¹⁰ (@HoodiGarland) April 25, 2025
Others leaned into the absurd, imagining Sanders donning a fictional jersey or taking a selfie inside a make-believe “celebration” room that clearly wasn’t needed. A viral meme featured Sanders in a McDonald’s uniform with the caption: “The pick is in! @McDonalds steps up and takes a chance on Shedeur Sanders.”
Still, some X users were shocked he didn’t go in the first round at all. “Shedeur Sanders not going in the first round is literally nuts!” wrote one commenter. Yet, not everyone disagreed with the outcome. One post read, “The fact that nobody picked Shedeur Sanders so far just shows you the difference between being popular and being talented.”
@CJRealHoops1 wrote on X, "Shedeur Sanders driving back to the hotel tonight" and shared a video of a man in a car yelling, "I wanted it to go better."
"Shedeur Sanders after going undrafted," X user @JcBeChillin wrote.
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