Shedeur Sanders still hasn’t played a single snap for the Browns this season, but that hasn’t stopped him from making an impact in Cleveland. The NFLPA announced Friday that Sanders is the Week 3 Community MVP, an honor built entirely around what he’s been doing away from the field.
The recognition traces back to September 22, when Sanders visited W.H. Kirk Middle School and Caledonia Elementary School in East Cleveland. He and his team handed out 500 backpacks filled with school supplies, teaming up with Chase Bank, the East Cleveland City School District, and Pizza Hut’s BOOK IT! program to pull the whole event together. Pizza Hut and Pammy’s Ice Cream supplied the food, and the visit tied into the district’s Attendance Awareness Month push to get kids showing up and staying engaged.
Sanders signed autographs, traded high-fives, and spent the afternoon with students rather than just dropping in for a photo. He later explained the choice of location to a local reporter.
“I like going to different places a lot of people wouldn’t go and showing a positive side,” Sanders said.
The NFLPA is backing up the honor with a $10,000 donation to his Legendary Impact Foundation, and Sanders is now in the running for the league’s biggest community service award.
“I truly believe in perfect timing, and being named Community MVP means a lot,” Sanders said. “What matters most is those kids knowing they are seen, they are heard and they are felt. If that gives them a little more motivation to keep showing up, then we did our job.”
Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders is the Week 3 NFLPA Community MVP for distributing 500 backpacks with supplies, and hosting a pizza and ice cream party for students at two East Cleveland schools. In honor of Sanders’ charitable efforts and this award, the NFLPA is making a… pic.twitter.com/H7bZr1tOR8
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 25, 2026
Sanders joins the rest of this season’s weekly honorees on the ballot for the Alan Page Community Award, the NFLPA’s highest player honor for community service, handed out at the end of the year with an additional $100,000 donation attached.
This isn’t new territory for him either. Sanders hosted a free youth football camp for Ohio kids earlier this year, complete with drills, scrimmages, bouncy houses, and a diamond chain giveaway, and he showed up at the Garden Valley Fun Fest after a fire displaced more than 100 local residents.
On the field, the picture is still murky. Deshaun Watson has started every game so far, and Sanders is still waiting for his shot behind him. Off the field, though, Sanders has made sure Cleveland notices him regardless of what the depth chart says.