Former Cleveland Browns’ QB Joe Flacco displayed full support for Shedeur Sanders amidst all the controversy surrounding his Pro Bowl selection. 

The 41-year-old sat in an interview with Kay Adams just a few hours ahead of the Pro Bowl. Flacco described the rookie's behind-the-scenes preparation for his first Pro Bowl.

"Man, he is very confident in who he is, and that's what serves him... I could see it right away. The belief he had in himself... Just that gamer type of mentality, have the right kind of mindset to be successful in this league. Once he can learn everything else, it's probably gonna serve him well.”

Sanders embodied that confidence after the Browns' win against the Las Vegas Raiders. "I’m who they’ve been looking for," he said at the time, closing it off with gratefulness for the win. That attitude had earned him some backlash. And weeks later, when he was selected to the Pro Bowl, there was even more backlash.

Shedeur wasn’t the first choice QB from the AFC for the Pro Bowl games. He came as a replacement for the New England Patriots’ Drake Maye, due to his Super Bowl commitments. And fans believed the selection was due to the hype surrounding him.

In seven starts this season, the 23-year-old scored 7 TDs for 1400 passing yards and was intercepted 10 times, numbers that seldom get players to the Pro Bowl.

Along with him, Flacco also earned his first-ever Pro Bowl selection. He started the year in Cleveland’s roster with Shedeur, the 41-year-old will represent the Bengals. Despite this, Shedeur had some good things to say about him.

Shedeur Sanders on Joe Flacco

Joe Flacco has been a mentor figure to Shedeur Sanders since he joined the Browns. Reunited at the Pro Bowl, the rookie shared what he learned from the veteran.

"What I learned from Joe is, he is the same guy," Shedeur said. "It's kind of like things I always knew what it takes to be an NFL QB. He's done all of those things live and in the flesh."

Flacco found a place as a replacement after stars like Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes were available. Flacco even went on to acknowledge.

"Obviously, this has been a weird year and so many people kind of always end up getting a chance at it. You never know with these things."

With the Pro Bowl just a few hours away, who do you think will start? Let us know in the comments!

Written by

Kalp Thaker

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar