Inside the fan pilgrimage to Las Vegas for Shedeur Sanders’ first start

LAS VEGAS — Inside of the stadium you would have thought this game was happening on the banks of Lake Erie. Outside of Allegiant Stadium, Cleveland Browns fans of all ages made sure to make the pilgrimage to Nevada, not just because their favorite team was playing, but to see the dawn of what is hopefully a new era for the team.

With Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders starting for the first time since he was selected in the fifth round of the NFL draft in April, expectations and support are as high as they’ve been in some time.

“I’m an Ohio State guy, but I’ve always been a Sanders fan,” said David Stewart, who was wearing a large plastic 12 pendant around his neck, along with a white 12 jersey. “I followed him when he was at Jackson State. I followed him when he was at Colorado, but the Browns aren’t treating him right.

“So it’s starting out right now. … I think he’ll prove himself. I haven’t been to a Browns game since 1995, when they left [Cleveland for Baltimore]. I live in Houston now. I [got up] at 3:30 this morning. I’m flying home at 8 tonight, just to see this start.”

For people from Cleveland who still live there, the gathering of folks in Las Vegas for the Browns’ 24-10 win on Sunday reminded them that Sanders is legitimately growing the fanbase. The fact that his jersey sales are so high is not a coincidence, nor a fluke.

“We have a lot of people from around the country that are just becoming Browns fans just because of him,” said Gary Dock of Warrensville Heights, Ohio. “Yeah, the young man is humble. I mean, if you’re raised by the greatest, one of the greatest athletes ever, you’re gonna have a little bit arrogance in you.

“But everything he’s done in the Cleveland Community has just been phenomenal. We’ve embraced them. I don’t even want to win. I don’t care if we win. I just want him to show them he’s our quarterback and we don’t have to waste two first-round picks next year. I’m saying he just needs to be that guy.”

David Sproling, who lives in St. Louis, had planned to spend his 37th birthday weekend in New Orleans watching the Chicago Bulls and the New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA.

Then he heard Sanders was going to start against the Las Vegas Raiders.

“I switched it up and came here immediately,” he said. “Tickets were easy to find, and they didn’t cost that much — about $250 apiece.”

Sproling, wearing a bright orange Sanders jersey with brown stitching, sat in the end zone in the second row of the 100 sections. He could have read Sanders’ eyes had the Browns moved inside the 10 in his direction,

“As soon as he was announced the starter, we bought them [tickets]. I didn’t want any problems,” he said. “I became a fan when he shook up Colorado and brought the excitement back. I’m a big Deion fan, too.”

Even teammate Deshaun Watson, whose reputation and career in a Browns uniform are pretty much done, made the trip to support Sanders. It was Watson’s first road trip all season since being sidelined for the entire year with a ruptured Achilles.

There’s another element to Sanders that really resonates with our people in particular. This might not have been as prevalent in a place like Boulder, Colorado. But in Ohio’s Cuyahoga County, it makes a huge difference.

“He’s been more involved in the community as far as donations and fundraisers and just being amongst the people, the African American community in Cleveland,” Dock said. “We’re very close in Cleveland — unfortunately, being a racist city with a racist history.

“It’s sometimes hard for us in that city, but he’s embraced it. He’s just embraced being part of us and our culture.”

How important would you say it is for him to succeed as a result? Dock was asked.

“I think it’s very important for us, because it’s just not [all] about football. It’s way bigger than football.”

Diarra Polk, a native of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, lives in Dallas. She wore a blouse with Sanders’ name in cursive and No. 12 on the back. Polk said she attends one Browns game per year.

When the schedule was announced, she picked the Raiders’ game. Sanders’ start is an added bonus.

“I got this shirt made before I even knew he was starting. Won’t he do it?” she said, laughing. “He’s an underdog. I’m here with my cousins and we’ve been talking about him since he got drafted. We want him to do well. He is us.”

In July, a devastating fire affected Cleveland’s Garden Valley neighborhood. One person died and many others were displaced. Although it was months ago, that’s the kind of thing people don’t forget, even if they weren’t necessarily there.

“I think that he speaks our language — even though, you know, he comes from privilege. He still understands and is rooted enough in the struggles of our people to, like, still be aware. He had a thing recently, a few months ago, in the projects, where they caught on fire, really, really bad. He showed up, no security, not sanctioned by the NFL,” Michael Blue, 40, recalled.

Quite a few members of Blue’s family traveled for this game.

“He showed up, played with the kids, donated a ton of money, cooked, spent time with them — just let them know, like I hear you, I see you,” Blue said. “That type of stuff you can’t pay for.”

The idea that the Cleveland Browns — of all teams — have the kind of player that people are willing to change their plans to watch is downright mind-boggling if you’ve been walking this earth for the past 40 years. But for every nice play Sanders makes — including a lovely, rollout 52-yard throw to Isaiah Bond that gets down to 1-yard line on third down — there’s another that will remind you why the team is 3-9.

On a 40-yard completion to Jerry Jeudy over the middle, he decided to literally start skipping along the sideline. A Raider knocked the ball out of Jeudy’s possession, causing the receiver to fumble it away.

On social media, you read things like, “I’m a lifelong Raiders fan and I’m rooting for Shedeur Sanders to light us up,” or “She asked if I’m busy this Sunday, but it’s National Shedeur Sanders Day.”

“We are all pulling for Shedeur Sanders this week. I’m a whole Eagles fan. Go birds till I literally expire. But I need you to understand something. This game this weekend is not about football. It’s not about a [starting] QB role. It’s not about getting more reps. It’s not about over or under preparation. This game? When they play the Raiders and Shedeur suits up? This about motherf—–g history,” @CoachZayonTok said on TikTok this week.

“It’s about a young man, one of us, putting on for himself, for his family and for his people, in front of the world showing that you can hate us. You could put up walls, obstacles, barriers, all kinds of hurdles. What Lil Uzi [Vert] say, it do not matter. It do not matter. [Shedeur] If you see this, I want you to understand, bro, we all want to see you do well, and that includes a lot of people that ain’t us, because they all see it too. And [Cleveland head coach] Kevin Stefanski, count your days, because if Prime decide to take that job, then we finna roll the carpet out for you at that unemployment office.”

Whether any of this is actually Stefanski’s fault is another matter entirely. But the point is: For many people, Shedeur is the entire show.

The day Kimberly English learned Shedeur Sanders was starting, she made plans to be in Las Vegas. English, wearing a brown Cleveland No.12 jersey and matching orange nail polish, has followed Sanders since his first two college seasons at Jackson State.

“I am a Shedeur fan,” English said. “Where he go, I go. I like the way he talks to people, and he’s respectful.”

English said the media coverage of Sanders has been biased since the draft.

“Remember this, he can only do what they let him do. It’s not his fault,” she said. “He’s only a rookie. Treat him fairly. Like y’all let the other boy [Dillon Gabriel] get away with stuff. Treat him the same way. If not, I’m raising hell.

“I’m hoping he shows up and shows out. If he does, I’m going to be dancing down the [Las Vegas] strip.”

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