An atheist activist group recently targeted Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders for holding team prayers, asking God for his blessing and giving glory to him for the team’s success. The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation recently wrote a letter to the University of Colorado Boulder complaining about Sanders’ expressions of faith.
“It’s come to our attention that Coach Sanders has continued to entangle the university’s football program with religion and engage in religious exercises with students and staff,” the Freedom From Religious Foundation wrote in a letter to the university.
The initiative from the atheist group follows a viral video of the team being led in prayer by Pastor E. Dewey Smith of House of Hope Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Coach Prime can be heard in the footage, stating, “If you don’t believe in the Lord, you better believe in Him now.”
“God, we thank you tonight for victory, thank you that you kept us relatively safe. Thank you that in spite of our imperfections you still blessed us, Lord. And thank you for being with us to the end. Lord, some people call it Hail Mary, some people call it karma, some people call it luck, but in my faith tradition we call it Jesus,” the pastor said in front of the team.
Staff attorney for the FFRF Samantha F. Lawrence claimed that Smith’s prayer to the team seemingly contradicts statements from the university last year, which indicate Sanders had been informed on boundaries regarding religious expression from players and coaches.
“Coach Sanders’ team is full of young and impressionable student athletes who would not risk giving up their scholarship, giving up playing time, or losing a good recommendation from the coach by speaking out or voluntarily opting out of his unconstitutional religious activities — even if they strongly disagree with his beliefs,” Lawrence claimed.
“Coaches exert great influence and power over student athletes and those athletes will follow the lead of their coach. Using a coaching position to promote Christianity amounts to unconstitutional religious coercion. The University of Colorado must again take action to protect its student athletes’ First Amendment rights,” the letter added.
The complaint continued, “Coach Sanders needs to understand that he was hired to coach football, not to force student athletes to engage in his preferred religious practices. He must cease infusing the football program with Christianity. We request notification in writing of the actions the university is taking to ensure that Coach Sanders will cease proselytizing student athletes for good.”
Watch the team prayer below:
POWERFUL: Colorado HC @DeionSanders leads the team in prayers postgame
“If you don’t believe in the Lord, you better believe in Him now”- Prime
“Lord, some people call it Hail Mary, karma, luck, but in my faith tradition, we call it Jesus,”- @edeweysmith pic.twitter.com/mukc9gHJNF
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) September 22, 2024
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.