In recent years, the football world has become aware of the relationship between all-time great quarterback Tom Brady, and recently drafted quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Brady has served as a mentor to Sanders, sharing his knowledge about the quarterback position on and off the field, as the younger QB starts his own NFL career.
Like Brady, Sanders’ NFL career got off to a rough start with a rocky draft experience. Entering the 2025 Draft, Sanders was expected to be a first-round pick, falling to the second at the latest. Instead, he went to Cleveland in the fifth round with the 144th pick.
While the fall created national headlines that left the sports world, Brady had a simple, and expected, piece of advice to the young quarterback: it doesn’t matter when you’re picked.
Fellow Hall of Famer Michael Strahan revealed this on Good Morning America, sharing that he and Brady watched the draft together. As they witnessed Sanders go in the fifth round, Brady’s simple reaction was that draft order doesn’t matter anyway— beyond initial financial implications.
Tom Brady reminds Shedeur Sanders that it doesn’t matter when you’re drafted
Of course, Brady is the most famous example of this, as he was drafted in the sixth round with the 199th-overall pick of the 2000 Draft. That didn’t stop him from becoming a seven-time Super Bowl champion, three-time MVP, 15-time Pro Bowler, and arguably the greatest quarterback of all time.
Sanders is obviously far from that legacy, just starting his career, but he’ll have the opportunity to overcome the odds as a fellow late-round pick. Whenever Sanders conducted game-winning drives in college, he would call it going “Brady Mode,” echoing his mentor by saying opposing teams left too much time on the clock.
Now, Sanders will have to go Brady Mode throughout his entire career to evolve from the fifth round pick to the legendary quarterback he wants to be.
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