Deion Sanders attacked by anti-religion group for Colorado team chaplain – legal expert says he can have one

Colorado shot manager and NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders came nether occurrence by an anti-religion group, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), implicit his usage of a squad chaplain. Sanders had Pastor Dewey Smith commune implicit the shot squad aft its triumph against Baylor University connected Sept. 22.

The FFRF released a scathing four-page letter condemning Sanders, making claims that having Smith bash the supplication counted arsenic "unconstitutional spiritual activities," arsenic helium leads a shot squad astatine a nationalist university. 

"Coach Sanders’ squad is afloat of young and impressionable pupil athletes who would not hazard giving up their scholarship, giving up playing time, oregon losing a bully proposal from the manager by speaking retired oregon voluntarily opting retired of his unconstitutional spiritual activities – adjacent if they powerfully disagree with his beliefs," the missive read. 

"Coaches exert large power and powerfulness implicit pupil athletes and those athletes volition travel the pb of their coach. Using a coaching presumption to beforehand Christianity amounts to unconstitutional spiritual coercion."

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Colorado Buffaloes caput manager Deion Sanders earlier the crippled against the North Dakota State Bison astatine Folsom Field. (Ron Chenoy-USA Today Sports)

It isn't the archetypal clip the FFRF has targeted Sanders for his displays of honoring and practicing Christianity. 

When Sanders archetypal became the caput manager astatine Colorado successful 2023, the FFRF raised concerns astir his erstwhile unfastened show of religion with his team. This resulted successful the assemblage giving him further grooming connected the boundaries of spiritual look successful nationalist institutions. The assemblage revealed successful a connection that Sanders had received grooming connected nondiscrimination policies and constitution clause requirements aft his hiring. 

But this time, an enactment has stepped successful to support Sanders. The First Liberty Institute has issued a effect to the FFRF's letter, arguing that Sanders has the ineligible close to bring supplication into his team's locker room. 

Keisha Russell, a law lawyer with First Liberty Institute who has worked arsenic a national instrumentality clerk connected the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, told Fox News Digital that determination is ineligible precedence for wherefore Sanders has the close to bring a chaplain into the team's locker room. 

"FFRF's missive is beyond inaccurate," Russell said. "The cases that we bash person astir chaplains programs and the authorities providing chaplains successful nationalist life, determination are a batch of cases astir it, and it's intelligibly allowed." 

While determination person been nary Supreme Court cases that focused specifically connected a chaplain successful a nationalist schoolhouse shot locker room, Russell believes that if Sanders' lawsuit was elevated to that level, helium would triumph easily, with grounds from a erstwhile case.

In June 2022, the Supreme Court sided with Bremerton High School shot manager Joe Kennedy aft helium was suspended and aboriginal fired due to the fact that helium prayed a brief, quiescent supplication aft shot games. First Liberty Institute filed a suit against the schoolhouse district, arguing that banning coaches from softly praying, conscionable due to the fact that they tin beryllium seen by the public, is incorrect and violates the Constitution. On Sept. 1, 2023, Coach Kennedy returned to the tract and knelt successful supplication aft the game.

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Colorado caput manager Deion Sanders earlier the North Dakota State game, Aug. 29, 2024, successful Boulder. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

"If you harvester that with what the Supreme Court has precocious said astir religion and students, and peculiarly the past manager Kennedy case, I deliberation it's beauteous wide that these students are aged capable to benignant of differentiate for themselves what they privation to bash successful that situation, and I don't deliberation there's thing incorrect with their manager inviting 1 successful for inspiration," Russell said. "The signifier is decidedly constitutional, and it's highly apt that they would uphold this signifier arsenic due nether the First Amendment." 

Sanders has said helium devoted himself to Christianity soon aft his archetypal divorcement successful 1998, from his ex-wife Carolyn Chambers, with whom helium had his archetypal 2 children, Deion Jr. and Deiondre. Sanders opened up astir his devotion to Christ during an interrogation connected "Running Wild" with Bear Grylls successful November 2023.

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Coach Deion Sanders points to the scoreboard from the sideline against CSU successful the Rocky Mountain Showdown astatine Canvas Stadium connected Sept. 14, 2024, successful Fort Collins, Colorado. (Cris Tiller/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

"That's erstwhile I went done my archetypal divorcement successful which the lone things that I knew that genuinely loved maine were my 2 kids. Now they're gone, present they've been taken away. It was devastating, and I went done suicidal thoughts, a suicidal period," Sander said. "I ran this car disconnected the broadside of the highway, and astatine the bottom, I thought this car would conscionable flip, and it didn't flip, and I was inactive there. Shortly aft that, I conscionable had to travel to the Lord with my hands up and say, 'I'm done. I can't bash it anymore. You got me. I springiness up. God, you instrumentality me.'"

During an introductory property league past twelvemonth commemorating his presumption arsenic caller caput astatine UC, Sanders praised God.

"Out of each the persons successful the world, God chose me," Sanders said. "For that, I convey Him; for that, I emotion Him; for that, I magnify Him; for that, I glorify Him; for that, I praise Him; for that, I beryllium Him. Each and each day, I'm trying to delight Him," 

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