Colorado football coach and NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders isn’t one to shy away from the spotlight.
But the outspoken and flashy football personality is caught in the crosshairs of a nasty legal battle that could alter the way football programs allow — or don’t allow — religious freedom.
An anti-religion group, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), has bashed Sanders over his use of a team chaplain.
Sanders had Pastor Dewey Smith pray over the football team after its win against Baylor University on Sept. 22.
The FFRF released a scathing four-page letter condemning Sanders, making claims that having Smith do the prayer counted as “unconstitutional religious activities,” as he leads a football team at a public university.
“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,” the letter read.
“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.”
However, free speech advocates believe Sanders has done nothing illegal.
Keisha Russell, a constitutional lawyer with First Liberty Institute who has worked as a federal law clerk on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, said that there is legal precedence for why Sanders has the right to bring a chaplain into the team’s locker room.
“FFRF’s letter is beyond inaccurate,” Russell told Fox News. “The cases that we do have about chaplains programs and the government providing chaplains in public life, there are a lot of cases about it, and it’s clearly allowed.”
While there have been no Supreme Court cases that focused specifically on a chaplain in a public school football locker room, Russell believes that if Sanders’ case was elevated to that level, he would win easily, with evidence from a previous case.
In June 2022, the Supreme Court sided with Bremerton High School football coach Joe Kennedy after he was suspended and later fired because he prayed a brief, quiet prayer after football games. First Liberty Institute filed a lawsuit against the school district, arguing that banning coaches from quietly praying, just because they can be seen by the public, is wrong and violates the Constitution. On Sept. 1, 2023, Coach Kennedy returned to the field and knelt in prayer after the game.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time the FFRF has targeted Sanders.
According to Fox News, when Sanders first became the head coach at Colorado in 2023, the FFRF raised concerns about his previous open display of faith with his team. This resulted in the university giving him additional training on the boundaries 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.