During Shedeur Sanders's throwing session at the Colorado Buffaloes' pro day last week, criticism emerged over his habit of patting the football before throwing a pass. Though Sanders got to show off his accuracy and deep ball in front of representatives from all 32 teams, the main storyline coming out of the pro day was his patting of the football.
New York Jets safety Andre Cisco was one of the first to call out Sanders's tendency to pat the ball. "Boy better stop patting that ball, we breakin onnat earlyyyy," Cisco wrote on X.
Sanders's patting of the football turned into a whole debate, with even both New York Giants receiver Darius Slayton and Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons arguing about it on social media. Patting the football became a hot topic on NFL media shows, with some defending Sanders and others finding that the habit could hinder him.
On Thursday, Sanders responded to all the talk about him patting the football during an appearance on the Up & Adams Show.
"Me patting made me have success this far," Sanders told Kay Adams. "Me patting the ball got me to the position I am now. I don't see what's wrong."
Shedeur Sanders on the "patting the ball" debate.@heykayadams | @ShedeurSanders pic.twitter.com/qhL72cQ51x
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) April 10, 2025
Sanders is far from the only quarterback who has patted the ball, and he added that patting the ball, along with other traits or actions, come into question for him, but not necessarily other quarterbacks. Due to his name and who his father is, Sanders is well-aware he has received far more scrutiny than the average first-round quarterback prospect.
"For me, things can be a problem," Sanders said. "For other people, it's not a problem. They always move the goal posts for me so that's why mentally, you've got to be tough with everything that there is because you can never seek validation or happiness through the outside people. You've got to find that within yourself and you've got to just not really care about what nobody else is saying."
Regardless of the debate over him patting the ball, in just 12 days, Sanders is still expected to become a first-round draft pick and enter the NFL.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Shedeur Sanders Responds to Criticism Over Patting the Football.
