Fox posts bizarre graphic of Shedeur Sanders tied up in rope

Fox took the continuously bizarre coverage of Shedeur Sanders and his rookie NFL season to a new level Sunday afternoon.

After the Cleveland Browns lost to the San Francisco 49ers 26-8 in Sanders’ second start of his career, Fox Sports and the NFL on Fox announced the final score with strange Instagram posts. In an eight-second graphic, 49ers mascot Sourdough Sam is seen pushing a mining cart filled with gold as Sanders is featured tied by rope and sitting on top of the pile.

The posts are filled with comments from people calling Fox out for using a graphic that many deemed to be offensive. At worst, the graphic could be considered to have racist connotations. At best, the decision to post an image of Sanders tied in rope was imprudent.

It’s clear the video was created by AI, but that’s no excuse. Even if it was AI that created the graphic, there should be someone who sees the image of Sanders tied by a rope and has the foresight to either delete it or never post it to begin with. But after the strange image of Sanders was shared by Fox Sports and the NFL on Fox Sunday afternoon, it remains on their respective Instagram pages as of Monday morning.

The rookie quarterback is already operating under an unprecedented level of scrutiny as the son of Deion Sanders, who was hyped as a potential first overall pick before sliding to the fifth round of the NFL Draft. Sanders has had his share of missteps in his early quest to become a franchise quarterback, but much of the attention he receives is to no fault of his own. And Fox’s unfathomable sharing of an image of Sanders tied by a rope is the latest example.