By Leonard Blairsenior reporter Monday October 28, 2024

Super Bowl-winning Colorado Buffaloes football team head coach and NFL Hall of Famer Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders is under fire from an atheist group for organized team prayers and other religious activities.

“We have noticed that Coach Sanders has continued to interweave the university’s football program with religion and engage in religious exercises with students and staff,” wrote the Freedom From Religion Foundation, based in Wisconsin, in a press release. recent letter to university leaders, highlighting a post-game prayer with the Colorado Buffaloes team following their victory against Baylor University last month.

Before the delivery of a prayer by Pastor E. Dewey Smith of House of Hope Church in Atlanta, Georgia, Sanders is recorded by declaring to the team: “If you don’t believe in the Lord, you better believe in Him now.”

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Smith then delivered the prayer thanking God for the victory.

“God, we thank you tonight for the victory, thank you for keeping us relatively safe. Thank you because despite our imperfections you still blessed us, Lord. And thank you for being with us until 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.

POWERFUL: Colorado HC @DeionSanders leads the team in prayers after the game

“If you don’t believe in the Lord, you better believe in Him now” – Prime

“Lord, some people call him Hail Mary, karma, luck, but in my faith tradition we call him Jesus,” – @edeweysmithpic.twitter.com/mukc9gHJNF

– MLFootball (@_MLFootball) September 22, 2024

Samantha F. Lawrence, an attorney for FFRF, said in the organization’s letter that Smith appeared to serve as team chaplain despite the university’s assurances in January 2023 that Sanders had been briefed and appeared receptive to “limits within which players and coaches may or may not engage in religious expression.

“Coach Sanders’ team is full of young, impressionable student-athletes who would not risk giving up their scholarships, giving up playing time, or losing a good recommendation from the coach by speaking out or voluntarily renouncing his unconstitutional religious activities – even though they strongly disagree with his beliefs,” Lawrence argued.

“Coaches have 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,” the letter added. “The University of Colorado must once again take action to protect the First Amendment rights of its student-athletes. »

“Coach Sanders needs to understand that he was hired to coach football players, not to force student-athletes to engage in his preferred religious practices. He needs to stop infusing Christianity into the football program. We request written notification of actions taken by the university to ensure that Coach Sanders will permanently cease proselytizing to student-athletes.

The University of Colorado did not immediately respond Monday when asked for comment on the FFRF demand letter.

FFRF requested the university provide all football program, university or athletic department records related to Pastor E. Dewey Smith’s involvement with the football team, including travel plans , itineraries and financial records, including payments and reimbursements made to him.

Also requested are 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 intermingling the football program with religion while acting in his capacity as head coach. »