As ChurchLeaders has reported, Sanders was a standout NFL and MLB player whose struggles led him to Jesus. After a life-threatening medical scare in 2021, Sanders lost two toes but realized he’s “walking in my purpose.”
Coach Prime Sparks Another Controversy
Sanders has faced criticism for leaving his coaching job at Jackson State University, a historically Black school, to lead the football team at CU, a predominantly white school. During a media appearance last week, the NFL Hall of Fame cornerback admitted he seeks quarterbacks from dual-parent homes who earn good grades and have “leader of men” skills. For players such as linemen, however, he recruits kids who have a single parent, receive free school lunch, and are “trying to rescue Mama.”
Some former NFL players acknowledge they’ve heard or experienced just that. Benjamin Watson, an outspoken pro-life Christian, tweets: “… a scout told me that my [parents’] marriage and my education was a criticism against my ability to play football. I had to prove I was tough and mean. What kinda nonsense…”
Emmanuel Acho, another Christian former NFL player, tweets: “Deion Sanders verbalized what many in football already know exists or have experienced.” In a brief video, Acho says although Sanders’ remarks sound “crazy on face value,” it’s what college and pro teams “definitely think.”
Acho recalls a billionaire franchise owner asking him at the NFL Combine about the “hardest thing you’ve ever been through” and if he knew anybody who’d been shot. Because Acho had two highly educated parents, he says, the owner declared that the linebacker wasn’t a “great fit” for the team.
Other people say Sanders’ words are hurtful, even if they reveal truths about coaching philosophies. “It hurts more when coming from a Black man,” tweets sportscaster Chris Williamson, calling Coach Prime’s recent statement “another disappointing step in his journey.”
Twitter user Native Son writes that Sanders is “not getting called out enough for thinking he can package Black American culture to further his own ambitions.” Coach Prime, he adds, “is operating as a culture vulture trying to monetize Black American culture…to promote his success at a white institution.”
