Shilo Sanders’ NFL career ended before it could even start. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers waived him following an altercation with a Buffalo Bills player during the 2025 preseason. His brother, Shedeur Sanders, has held on and is now a backup for the Cleveland Browns after losing the QB1 battle to Deshaun Watson.
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More than a year after Shilo was waived, Shedeur found an opportunity to land a jab at his elder brother.
“I’m telling you that’s that CTE,” Shedeur is heard saying in Shilo’s vlog on apartment hunting in Fort Lauderdale, when they were discussing the flat they were visiting.
“You got more CTE than me,” Shilo fired back.
“You left the game early enough,” Shedeur responded, commenting on his brother’s short-lived career.
The two brothers were joking about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a disease that affects the brain and has been diagnosed in numerous NFL players. It can only be detected posthumously. The brutal physicality of football, which often leads to big hits on players’ heads, plays a big role here.
Shilo Sanders, however, stepped away from the gridiron pretty early enough, as highlighted by Shedeur. In a livestream he did earlier this year, Shilo considered himself lucky, comparing his state to that of former wide receiver Antonio Brown.
“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 said. “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.”
Brown was among the best wide receivers in the league during his time. In his 12-year career, he has tallied 12,291 yards and 83 touchdowns. He even received seven Pro Bowl nods and four first-team All-Pro selections. However, his career was marred by his off-field, controversial reputation.
Brown has his fair share of skeptics and haters, despite being a productive player. He infamously left the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. New York Jets clash in the 2021 season midway, taking off his jersey on the field. That was his last NFL game, with then-Tampa Bay head coach declaring that Brown was “no longer a Buc.”
Today, Brown continues to dish out controversial takes on his social media. Shilo Sanders doesn’t want that kind of reputation for himself.
Even though he doesn’t play anymore, Shilo has focused on his social media career as a streamer and content creator, and has also dabbled in music.
“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,” Shilo 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.”
Shedeur Sanders has an NFL career, but it’s not looking too good for him either. He entered preseason with a lot of hype, having given Watson a close fight in training camp and at times, emerging as the better QB1 contender. However, he lost the job to Watson, who looks like he’s going to keep it for the near future.
Trade rumors have surrounded the younger Sanders once again.
“Shedeur Sanders could be interesting to teams looking for a developmental QB who needs a change of scenery,” ESPN’s Dan Granziano suggested.
Watson is in the final year of his contract with the Cleveland Browns. It’d be bold for the franchise to offer him yet another contract. But with the Browns leading their division for the first time in years, anything can happen.
Shedeur’s blunt reality check cut right through Shilo’s rationalization of his short NFL stay. It’s a burden that Shilo will have to carry while watching his brother impress the Dawg Pound.