Shilo Sanders’ NFL career ended in disappointment after he got a chance with the Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent, but he sees it differently. After a preseason fight ended his run, Sanders called it a “blessing,” believing it kept him from a path like Antonio Brown’s.

“Who knows, bro, like the way I play, fam, if I would have played in the league for probably like six or seven years,” Shilo Sanders said on Shilo Sanders Live. “I’d have definitely ended up just like AB. And he be tweaking.

“But football is a real sport, bro. I don’t know. It could have been a blessing, bro.”

On the field, Antonio Brown was one of the NFL’s best receivers. He caught 928 passes for 12,291 yards and 83 touchdowns. He was selected to seven Pro Bowls and named first-team All-Pro four times. Unfortunately, his rather dramatic antics have made it tough for anyone to remember him as one of the greatest.

Instead, he grew into one of the most hated figures in the NFL. In December 2018, Pittsburgh benched him for the final game after he missed practice. Reports later said he had thrown a football at Ben Roethlisberger and was upset about JuJu Smith-Schuster being named team MVP. He is perhaps more infamously known for the stunt he pulled in what became his last NFL game.

While with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brown shockingly took off his jersey mid-game vs the New York Jets and walked out. Soon after, head coach Bruce Arians said that the WR was “no longer a Buc.”

Moreover, Brown was arrested on an attempted m–der charge in May last year, and remains on house arrest.

Today, Brown remains a controversial character. In May, he took shots at Hines Ward, claiming he himself was the better pass-catcher for Ben Roethlisberger. He’d also referred to legendary wide receiver Julio Jones and Odell Beckham Jr. as trash in a livestream.

Shilo Sanders is glad he doesn’t have to walk that path, even though his ended rather quickly.

The former safety worked hard to secure a roster spot in his rookie season. He was progressing in the right direction, with the staff appreciating his work. Sanders had even played in the first two preseason games in 2025. But in the third one, he got into a scuffle with tight end Zach Davidson. Sanders then threw a punch and was ejected. That incident appears to have been the final straw for Tampa Bay, which waived him the next day as the team finalized its roster.

“You can’t throw punches in this league — that’s inexcusable,” head coach Todd Bowles had said after the game, per ESPN.

Since then, Sanders has focused on his social media and music career, and has also revealed he has made peace with this reality. He has stopped training for football.

“It takes a special kind of guy to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I don’t think there’s any light in my tunnel,” Sanders said.

“I’ve always done that my whole life playing football with music, acting, and modeling. I truly believe God has a big plan for me.”

For now, he has bigger things to worry about.

Shilo Sanders is set to appear in court for the trial on his bankruptcy case, which is linked to a lawsuit filed by John Darjean. The latter used to work as a security guard in Sanders’ high school and accused the former safety of assaulting him. The court had ruled in favor of Darjean, who was awarded $11.89 million in compensation from Sanders. However, Sanders filed for bankruptcy in 2023.

Now, Shilo Sanders wants to avoid the same controversial path as Brown. Plus, he has moved quickly from football, releasing his 15-song hip-hop/rap album Hate 2 Love on Jan. 1, 2025. It seems like it all turned out well for him in the end.