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First Liberty Institute comes to Sanders’ defense, arguing prayers by chaplain are constitutional 

An anti-religion group is once again trying to shut down any prayers led or organized by the University of Colorado’s head football coach Deion Sanders.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation recently fired off a four-page complaint to administrators over the decision to allow Pastor Dewey Smith to pray over the football team after its win against Baylor University on Sept. 22.

“It’s come to our attention that Coach Sanders has continued to entangle the University’s football program with religion and engage in religious exercises with students and staff,” the letter states.

The memo cites an official pregame video that describes Pastor Smith as a “spiritual advisor” to Coach Sanders and “Chaplain for the Colorado Buffs.”

“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 states.

“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.”

This is not the first time the Freedom From Religion Foundation has complained about Coach Sanders praying with the team. Last year he was forced to undergo equity and compliance training after the anti-religion group lodged a grievance.

“It appears that Coach Sanders was not as receptive to the training as the University may have initially thought. We write once again to ask that the University ensure that Coach Sanders cease entangling the public university football program with Christianity,” the foundation’s recent letter states.

However, First Liberty Institute has come to Sanders’ defense, arguing the foundation is incorrect in asserting prayers by a chaplain are not allowed in the locker room.

“We are confident that CU is well within its right to invite a chaplain into the locker room
with its college athletes,” the institute told the university.

“Dating back to the Continental Congress in 1776, the United States has a robust and widely recognized tradition of both public prayer and chaplain programs,” the institute stated in its own four-page letter, dated Oct. 16.

“This rich precedent demonstrates that CU’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,” the letter states.

“Moreover, university students are old enough to appreciate a chaplain’s prayer without being coerced by it,” it added. “In Kennedy, the Court rejected the notion that secondary students are especially susceptible to coercion. …When applying the First Amendment in the school context, courts differentiate between university students and primary and secondary school students.”

Reached for comment, a university spokesperson told CBN News they do not “have a specific statement on the matter.”

The Deseret News reported that “Confusion is widespread over the rules for praying in public spaces, as religious freedom experts argue over when private religious expression becomes government-sponsored religious expression and when optional prayers become coercive.”

“In June 2022, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a praying football coach, saying that his postgame prayers were a protected form of private expression, not coercive speech,” the newspaper reported.

“The case centered on him taking a knee to pray on the field, not praying in the locker room with the team.”

MORE: U. Colorado’s ‘Coach Prime’ targeted by atheist group, undergoes ‘equity/compliance’ training

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