The NFL has been taking quite a bit of heat ever since Shedeur Sanders’ inclusion in this year’s Pro Bowl. It’s warranted, arguably, since the Cleveland Browns’ quarterback hasn’t even started 50% of the regular-season games this season. Anyway, it doesn’t look like the QB is losing his sleep over all the criticism, as he took to Instagram to make his Pro Bowl announcement.

“🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥,” Sanders captioned.

He even updated his profile picture—with a cheeky smile—making it clear that he’s well aware of the noise and simply choosing not to engage. Sanders seems confident that the outrage will cool once the Super Bowl arrives. A Pro Bowl is a Pro Bowl, and he’s looking forward to being there.

That doesn’t mean the pushback has faded. Sanders was named as a replacement for Drake Maye, who won’t participate because he’s headed to the Super Bowl. Add injuries to quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow, and suddenly, a spot was available.

Fans were quick to argue that others were more deserving. Trevor Lawrence is the name that comes up most often. And the frustration makes sense. Sanders spent a good chunk of the season trying to climb the depth chart before finally taking over midway through the year.

When he did take over, he failed to make much of a case for himself. Shedeur Sanders finished with roughly 1,400 passing yards, seven touchdown passes, 10 interceptions, and a 56.6 percent completion rate. Those aren’t the usual credentials attached to a Pro Bowl quarterback. That’s what continues to fuel the debate.

Like his son, Deion Sanders isn’t losing any sleep over it.

“My son did something that I didn’t do,” Coach Prime said. “He made the Pro Bowl in his first year. I made him in my third year. But most people don’t know that the major percentage is from the coaches and the players, their selection. Then the fans get a smaller percentage of votes. It’s not just the fan thing.”

Deion had to wait until 1991, his third season, for his first Pro Bowl nod. His son did it as a rookie. Whatever the criticism says, that fact still matters in the Sanders household. The debate probably won’t go away anytime soon. It’s still fair to ask how this decision came together and why Sanders ended up being the choice.

Well, Cowboys legend Michael Irvin has a theory.

Michael Irvin understands the NFL’s intentions

Whether Shedeur Sanders truly belongs in the Pro Bowl is a fair debate. Reasonable people can land on either side. But once his name was called while quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson and Trevor Lawrence were still out there, controversy was inevitable. According to Michael Irvin, that wasn’t an accident.

“Are they putting him up there because they want to profit off him?” Irvin said. “Nobody cared about the Pro Bowl. Now everybody cares, everybody’s talking about the Pro Bowl. Nobody was talking about the Pro Bowl, but now everybody’s talking about the Pro Bowl. All of that may have something to do with it.”

It’s hard to completely dismiss that logic. Sanders was one of the most talked-about rookies of the season, even when he was buried on the depth chart. He was a fourth-string QB at one point. The last name alone guaranteed attention. The league knew that. And the league has never been shy about leaning into buzz when it presents itself.

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Irvin framed it as a business decision, not a football one, and drew a comparison outside the sport to make his point.

“Jake Paul has done wonders with his popularity and his notoriety, it’s a currency,” Irvin said. “This is the business. Jake Paul didn’t work his way up through amateur boxing … he took the currency of notoriety, visibility and he surpassed all of those guys that did it the old way.”

The comparison is clear. Jake Paul isn’t widely viewed as the best boxer in his space, but he generates more money than plenty who are better technically. In Irvin’s view, that same thinking applies here. From that angle, the league may have gotten exactly what it wanted. The Pro Bowl is trending again. That rarely ever happens.