Colorado football coach and NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders came under fire from an anti-religious group, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), for his use of a team chaplain. Sanders had Pastor Dewey Smith pray for the football team after its victory against Baylor University on September 22.
The FFRF published a scathing four-page letter condemning Sanders, stating that having Smith perform the prayer counted as “unconstitutional religious activities” since he coaches a football team at a public university.
“Coach Sanders' team is full of young, impressionable student-athletes who would not risk giving up their scholarship, losing playing time, or losing a good coach recommendation by speaking out or voluntarily opting out of their unconstitutional religious activities.” , even if they totally disagree with your beliefs,” the letter said.
“Coaches wield great influence and power over student-athletes and those athletes will follow their coach's lead. Using a coaching position to promote Christianity amounts to unconstitutional religious coercion.”
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Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders before the game against the North Dakota State Bison at Folsom Field. (Ron Chenoy-USA Today Sports)
This is not the first time the FFRF has attacked Sanders for his displays of honoring and practicing Christianity.
When Sanders first became Colorado's head coach in 2023, the FFRF expressed concern about his previous open show of faith with his team. This resulted in the university providing him with additional training on the limits of religious expression in public institutions. The university revealed in a statement that Sanders had received training on nondiscrimination policies and establishment clause requirements after his hiring.
But this time, an organization stepped in to defend Sanders. The First Liberty Institute has issued a response to the FFRF letter, arguing that Sanders has the legal right to bring the prayer to his team's locker room.
Keisha Russell, a constitutional attorney at First Liberty Institute who worked as a federal law clerk on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, told Fox News Digital that there is legal precedent for why Sanders has the right to bring a chaplain into the team locker room. .
“The FFRF letter is beyond inaccurate,” Russell said. “The cases we have about chaplain programs and the government providing chaplains in public life, there are many cases about that, and it's clearly allowed.”
While there have been no Supreme Court cases that have specifically focused on a chaplain in a public school football locker room, Russell believes that if Sanders' case were raised to that level, he would win handily, with evidence of a case former.
In June 2022, the Supreme Court sided with Bremerton High School football coach Joe Kennedy after he was suspended and then fired for saying a short, quiet prayer after football games. First Liberty Institute filed a lawsuit against the school district, arguing that prohibiting coaches from praying silently, just because they can be seen by the public, is wrong and violates the Constitution. On September 1, 2023, Coach Kennedy returned to the field and knelt in prayer after the game.
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Colorado head coach Deion Sanders before the North Dakota State game on Aug. 29, 2024, in Boulder. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
“If you combine that with what the Supreme Court has said recently about religion and students, and particularly the latest Coach Kennedy case, I think it's pretty clear that these students are old enough to differentiate for themselves what they want to do in that situation, and I don't think there's anything wrong with your coach inviting you to look for inspiration,” Russell said. “The practice is definitely constitutional and they will likely uphold it as appropriate under the First Amendment.”
Sanders has said he dedicated himself to Christianity shortly after his first divorce in 1998, from his ex-wife Carolyn Chambers, with whom he had his first two children, Deion Jr. and Deiondre. Sanders spoke about his devotion to Christ during an interview on “Running Wild” with Bear Grylls in November 2023.
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Coach Deion Sanders points to the scoreboard from the sideline against CSU in the Rocky Mountain Showdown at Canvas Stadium on Sept. 14, 2024, in Fort Collins, Colorado. (Cris Tiller/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
“That's when I went through my first divorce where the only things I knew that really loved me were my two children. Now they're gone, now they've been taken away. It was devastating and I went through suicidal thoughts, a suicidal period” said Sander. “I pulled this car out on the side of the road and at the end I thought this car was just going to roll over, but it didn't roll over, and I was still there. Shortly after that, I had to come to the Lord with my hands up and say, ' I'm done. I can't do it anymore.'”
During an introductory news conference last year to commemorate his position as UC's new president, Sanders praised God.
“Of all the people in the world, God chose me,” Sanders said. “For this I thank him; for this I love him; for this I magnify him; for this I glorify him; for this I praise him; for this I owe him. Every day, I owe him.” “I'm trying to please him.”
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