Law Group Defends Deion Sanders’ Right To Have Chaplain After Anti-Religious Group Sends Another Complaint

Deion Sanders is once again receiving letters from the Freedom From Religion Foundation for his use of team chaplains in the Colorado locker room to pray with the football team. 

You might remember this ordeal in the past, when Sanders first arrived at Colorado, and did not hold back on his religious beliefs and prayed with his players in the locker room and on the practice field. 

It was then followed up with the FFRF sending a letter to Colorado administrators claiming that Sanders was ‘entangling the public university football program with Christianity’ and violating rights of players and staff members of the football team of a public institution. 

Well, once again, the ‘Freedom From Religious Foundation’ is sending letters to the university about Deion Sanders inviting a chaplain, Pastor E. Dewey Smith, into the Buffaloes locker room following the Sept. 22 win over Baylor.  

Also, this is not the first time that the FFRF has tried to intervene on Deion Sanders and his religious values that he shares with his players. 

The Colorado football coach is not shy when it comes to his religion, sharing daily messages on social media that are meant to inspire others, and they are well-received by his followers. In videos posted to social media on a weekly basis, recapping the previous game, you can see Sanders praying with his team before each game, and sometimes after. 

The First Liberty Institute, which is a law firm that handles these types of situations, sent a letter to the university saying that FFRF is in the wrong, and misinterpreted the law. 

“FFRF fumbled the law,” said First Liberty Institute Senior Counsel, Keisha Russell. “The United States has a robust and widely recognized tradition of both public prayer and chaplain programs dating back to the Continental Congress in 1776.  This rich precedent demonstrates that the University’s program joins the long-standing American tradition that welcomes the participation of chaplains within a variety of America’s public spaces—or, as the case may be, even a locker room.  Coach Sanders and the University of Colorado should ignore FFRF’s Hail Mary.”

You can read the full letter that was sent from the law firm to the ‘FFRF’ here. 

I would imagine that Deion Sanders and the coaching staff are not paying much attention to the letters that are being sent regarding this matter, and if the school is OK with how he conducts his business, you won’t see this going any further. 

As for trying to get Deion Sanders to stop praying around his student athletes, good luck with that.