Head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes football team, Super Bowl winner and NFL Hall of Famer Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders, is coming under fire from an atheist group for holding team prayers and other religious activities.
“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 Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation wrote in a recent letter to university executives pointing to a post-game prayer with the Colorado Buffaloes team following their win over Baylor University last month.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), an atheist advocacy group, has formally requested that University of Colorado football coach Deion Sanders cease leading team prayers and religious activities with players.
The group contends that Coach Sanders has blended his role as coach with religious practices, which they argue infringe on players’ rights under the First Amendment.
A letter sent to university officials referred to a post-game prayer led by Pastor E Dewey Smith following the team’s win against Baylor University last month.
Before the prayer, Sanders reportedly encouraged the players, saying, “If you don’t believe in the Lord, you better believe in him now.”
Pastor Smith then delivered the prayer thanking God for the victory.
“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,” Smith said.
FFRF attorney Samantha F Lawrence asserted in the letter that, “despite earlier agreements” between Sanders and the university on limiting religious expression, Sanders continues to engage players in religious activities.
Lawrence further claimed that the team environment could create pressure for players to participate, despite personal beliefs. The group asked the university to remind Sanders that he was hired to coach football, not to “promote Christianity.” They requested assurance in writing of any measures taken by the university to prevent Sanders from leading religious activities in the future.
The FFRF demanded access to records involving any interactions between Pastor Smith and the team, including details on travel, payments, and communication with Coach Sanders on religious expression policies.
FFRF also demanded records of all university and related policies and records provided to Coach Sanders regarding “making religious remarks, holding or leading prayers, promoting religion, or otherwise entangling the Football Program with religion while acting in his capacity as Head Coach.”
(Christian Post)
