Emmanuel Acho Smoked by Matt Barnes for Bandwagon Shedeur Sanders Praise, Gets Coach Prime’s Reality Check

Former NBA wing Matt Barnes threw shots at media members who allegedly jumped into the Shedeur Sanders bandwagon, specifically calling out sports analyst Emmanuel Acho.

Sanders is coming off the best performance of his young NFL career during the Cleveland Browns' 31-29 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. The rookie quarterback completed 23 of 42 passes with three passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown and an interception.

On Wednesday's episode of "All the Smoke," Barnes had a lengthy rant about the media members who switched opinions about Sanders after his impressive performance in Week 14.

"The media that is trying to jump the bandwagon now that were talking all kinds of s**t like Emmanuel Acho and some of you motherf**kers that are trying to do amazing breakdowns now about how good Shedeur is and we knew this is going to be this, when a month ago, you were talking s**t and screaming and loud and wrong," Barnes said (Timestamp: 18:09).

Barnes added that there was only a handful of sports analysts who believed in Sanders from the start:

"All you motherf**kers, there's probably about five of us, maybe I'll go to the second hand, I'm going to say maybe I didn't see her. Maybe there was 10 of us that have been riding with this Sanders family from the jump and now Shedeur doing his thing. All you p**k **ses stay on that side you pick because we not accepting no new entries."

Barnes played 14 seasons in the NBA from 2003 until his retirement in 2017. He was part of the Golden State Warriors' 2016-17 championship team, which went 16-1 in playoffs, the best postseason winning percentage in league history.

Since retiring from basketball, Matt Barnes has appeared as an analyst for several networks. He has been hosting the "All the Smoke" podcast since 2019.

Matt Barnes has a message to Shedeur Sanders and his family: "Keep taking the high road"

In the same podcast episode on Wednesday, Matt Barnes and Mad Max discussed the disrespect that Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders has been receiving since he was drafted. Barnes advised the Sanders family to continue shutting out the noise.

"To Shedeur and the Sanders family, keep taking the high road," Barnes said (Timestamp: 17:35). "You're killing them with your professionalism. Your game is speaking, your game is talking. They can hate as much as they want to hate, but the talent is continuing to shine through. And that's the beautiful thing, man.

"Control what you can control. It's out of your control what kind of dumb**s s**t your coach calls. So, continue to chest out, say the right things, play the right way, and everything will work out."

Shedeur is the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, and coming into the 2025 NFL draft, was a highly regarded prospect. However, Shedeur fell to the 144th pick. Despite being drafted later than what was projected, the Sanders family embraced the opportunity.

The Browns are already eliminated from playoff contention, but Sanders has an opportunity to further prove himself, as he was named the starting QB for the remainder of the season.