Clay Travis Dismantles Sports Media For Pushing Racism Narrative About Shedeur Sanders, NFL Draft
By now, everyone knows that Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, considered by many to be a potential first-round pick in the NFL Draft, fell to the fifth round. The Cleveland Browns, who passed on Sanders multiple times earlier during the draft, eventually pulled the trigger – despite picking Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel in the third round.
Of course, many sports media members – and even one politician – decided there was one reason, and one reason only, that Sanders dropped so far down the board: racism. If there's one reason that Sanders absolutely did not fall in the draft, it's racism. OutKick founder Clay Travis let loose on the sports media for consistently pushing this narrative as part of its never-ending quest to divide Americans on the basis of skin color.
"The NFL, a majority black employee league, has created more black millionaires than any business in the history of the world. Arguing the league is racist, as many sports media did this weekend, is the dumbest argument in 21st century sports history," Travis posted on X.
"To do so based on the success or failure of any one player in the draft, as many of the sports media members did, is either profoundly dumb or intentionally racially divisive to score points with the dumbest sports fans in America. There are no other options," he continued.
Travis is 100% correct here. A black quarterback, Cam Ward, was the #1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. This was the third year in a row that a black quarterback was the top selection, with Caleb Williams going to the Bears in 2024 and Bryce Young to the Panthers in 2023.
Not only that, but the #2 overall picks in both 2023 and 2024 were black quarterbacks (C.J. Stroud in 2023, Jayden Daniels in 2024). The argument that the NFL conspired against Shedeur Sanders because he's black is an insanely ridiculous, and lazy, argument.
OutKick founder Clay Travis destroyed the sports media for constantly pushing a racism narrative to explain why Shedeur Sanders fell to the fifth round of the NFL Draft.
(OutKick.com & Getty Images)
Travis wasn't done, though. He also pointed out that the NFL Draft is just like any other market in a capitalist society, and that creates inefficiencies. That means that teams that are best at recognizing market inefficiencies are the ones that have the most success long-term. If teams thought Sanders was wildly undervalued, he would have gone sooner. They clearly didn't.
"The NFL is not without flaws, all major businesses just like all people have flaws, but it is the ultimate meritocracy. The best man wins and gets paid the most for winning. We should endeavor to make America more like sports, not sports more like America. Sports gets it right," Travis wrote.
"A player being drafted lower than your made up mock drafts is, moreover, not an existential crisis of modern sporting morality. The NFL draft is a venture capital market and some players are inevitably over and underrated by the market, just like companies in private equity," he added.
Shedeur Sanders fell into the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft for any number of reasons. But we can be sure that racism wasn't one of them.