It was a slap in the face for Shedeur Sanders. The talented quarterback was not selected in the first round of the 2025 draft. This should bring him back down to earth. A commentary.

Pride comes before a fall. Shedeur Sanders will know that since last night, at the latest.

The most polarizing college talent in this year’s NFL Draft was not picked by any team in the first round. It’s not as if this came as a surprise. Except for Sanders himself.

In the days leading up to the draft, it became increasingly clear that Sanders would likely fall out of the first round.

However, he had prepared himself for his name to be read out by Commissioner Roger Goodell on Friday night. Wearing a diamond necklace with the word “legendary” engraved on it, which was large even by his standards, the quarterback threw a draft party with his family in Texas to celebrate his pick.

In the end, however, he was left empty-handed for the time being and explained himself to his friends and family.

“None of us expected this,” said Sanders, clearly knocked out.

Shedeur Sanders: A great prospect – but nothing more

You should never confuse self-confidence with arrogance. But with Sanders, this is often difficult to distinguish.

He poses with flashy cars online, regularly comes across as cocky in interviews and seems like a show-off.

Sanders’ questionable attitude had already caught the attention of some scouts in the run-up to the draft.

The fact that he wasn’t allowed to give a “victory speech” at the end of his draft party will ultimately work in his favor. Sanders will make it to the NFL, and rightly so.

However, he should show a different side of himself there than he did in college. Hopefully, the disappointment of the draft has brought him back down to earth.

He is a great prospect – but nothing more. Not yet, anyway. There is no question that he has good potential. But the fact is that two quarterbacks from his class were picked ahead of him.

Shedeur Sanders: Humble instead of legendary is the order of the day

“It just added fuel to the fire,” Sanders said of his non-nomination in the first round. “We all know this should not have happened under any circumstances. Tomorrow is the day. We know we have bigger things to do.”

His ego seems to have taken a hit. But one thing is clear: his disappointment is understandable. Sanders ended his speech with a first sign that he may have already passed part of the character test: “We’ll still be happy.”

And then he added the word that he seems to have appropriated for himself: “Legendary.”

But instead of preaching “legendary” over and over again, Sanders could also listen to Kendrick Lamar’s song “Humble” every now and then and take a leaf out of his book when it comes to modesty.

It’s the character test at exactly the right time.