Seriously? An Atlanta football fan has taken an unusual step in response to the surprise drop of quarterback Shedeur Sanders in the 2025 NFL Draft—filing a massive lawsuit against the league for emotional harm.
Huh?
But wait, identified only as John Doe in legal documents, the man submitted a claim to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, citing “emotional distress and trauma” stemming from Sanders being selected much later than expected. The fan is asking for $100 million in punitive damages.
A hundo, huh? Sheesh.
According to MSNBC, Doe describes himself as a passionate supporter of Colorado football and argues that false narratives and leaked reports negatively influenced Sanders’ draft stock. He contends that the Cleveland Browns selecting Sanders with the 144th overall pick in the fifth round, despite widespread projections placing him in the first round, amounted to a significant injustice.
“Despite Sanders’ demonstrated skills and significant attention during the 2023 and 2024 seasons, the NFL drafted him at the 144th pick during the 2025 NFL Draft,” the lawsuit detailed.
Get this, in addition to the wild financial compensation component, Doe is seeking a public acknowledgment from the NFL for the alleged emotional toll its actions had on fans. He also demands a retraction of what he claims were “slanderous statements” about Sanders, a formal apology to the quarterback, and changes to the draft process that would promote more merit-based evaluations.
While Sanders himself has not taken any legal action, he shared his reaction to the surprising draft outcome in a post-draft interview.
“We all didn’t expect this, of course, but I feel like with God, anything [is] possible, everything [is] possible,” explained the 23-year-old after the first day of the draft. “I don’t feel like this happened for no reason. All of this is, of course, fuel to the fire. Under no circumstances did we all know this was going to happen, but we understand we on to bigger and better things. Tomorrow’s the day. We going to be happy regardless. Legendary.”
You can literally sue for anything these day. Wild times.