As the NFL draft approaches, Shedeur Sanders faces a relentless barrage of criticism and hate, pushing him to break his silence in explosive fashion. Behind the scenes, whispers of sabotage and power struggles threaten to force out one of football’s brightest young stars. What shocking secrets are being hidden from the public, and could this pre-draft chaos reveal a scandal that surpasses all expectations?

After the Scouting Combine, anonymous evaluators started characterizing Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders as “arrogant” and “brash.” (As if the NFL wants its on-field generals to be “milquetoast” and “wallflowers.”)

At Thursday’s Colorado Pro Day workout, Shedeur Sanders was asked by Bucky Brooks of NFL Network about the pre-draft chatter.

“Well, we always understood to block out the noise, even from Jackson State and Colorado,” Shedeur Sanders said, via Mike Freeman of USA Today. “It’s a lot of critics, it’s a lot of hate. But we know what to do, we know how to handle that in every way. So we remain happy.”

Colorado coach Deion Sanders was also asked about the criticism of his son. Per Freeman, Deion called the observations “lies” — and he threatened to name the person he believes is spreading the misinformation. Eventually, Deion declined to do it.

It’s normal (but inherently abnormal) for teams that hope a player will slide to spread negativity. They want him, and that’s one way to get him. But it feels different here. With Deion saying he’d only coach in the NFL if he could coach his son, some NFL coaches might not want the prospect of losing their job to Deion hovering over them.

Which is why, as previously explained, Deion might be playing 4D chess. Scare off the dysfunctional teams, with coaches who’d be too worried about Deion to properly coach Shedeur. Let Shedeur slide to a non-dysfunctional team with a sufficiently secure and confident coach.

And ensure that the early years of his career won’t be derailed by a franchise that is incapable of properly grooming and supporting a potential franchise quarterback.