Travis Kelce Rips Coach Being 'F--king Lame' for Anonymous Bashing of Shedeur Sanders

Shedeur Sanders is yet to take a single snap in the NFL, but he already has one of the league's biggest stars in his corner.

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce had some strong words on the latest episode of his New Heights podcast (22:48 mark) for those anonymous sources who criticized Sanders' predraft process and interviews.

"I think whoever the f--king anonymous person that's f--king saying this should f--king come out and say who they were," Kelce said. "… If you're gonna f--king leak that type of s--t, be the one that says that, 'yeah, it just didn't go well for us.' Don't f--king say that we're anonymous. That's so f--king lame. I just feel like there's no validity to it."

Sanders' stunning slide to the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round was the biggest storyline of the draft, especially since he is the reigning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and was once considered a surefire top pick.

However, there was some speculation in the days immediately ahead of the draft that a slide could be on the horizon. One NFL coach even told Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated the quarterback would be a sixth-round pick if he wasn't the son of Hall of Famer Deion Sanders.

Once he did actually fall in the draft, how he handled the predraft interviews became a storyline through the use of some of those anonymous quotes that rubbed Kelce the wrong way.

CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones reported (2:38 mark) some teams feel Sanders "did not give it his all" during meetings and "more or less sandbagged" interviews with teams he didn't want to draft him:

What's more, NFL insider Josina Anderson reported a quarterbacks coach said the prospect was "brash" and "arrogant," while NFL draft insider Todd McShay reported some teams questioned his "professional approach."

That Kelce and other NFL players may not like anonymous quotes, especially when they are critical, is far from surprising. However, there is also something to be said about getting more honest feedback from sources who aren't as worried about the blowback if they say something negative about a player or draft prospect.

The end result was Sanders going to the Browns, but he can at least take solace knowing he will have a realistic opportunity to compete for immediate playing time since Deshaun Watson is sidelined with an Achilles injury, Kenny Pickett has struggled with consistency in his NFL career, Dillon Gabriel is a fellow mid-round pick rookie and Joe Flacco is 40 years old.

If he does win the starting job, perhaps the next round of anonymous quotes and reports will be more positive.