Deion Sanders is outraged that no Historically Black College and University (HBCU) football recruits were drafted to the league during last week’s 2021 NFL Draft.
The former NFL star shared a tweet from The Undefeated which read, “There were 259 picks in the 2021 NFL Draft — not a single draft pick featured a player from an HBCU.” Sanders, who is currently coaching at Jackson State, took to Instagram to share his frustrations with the news. “We have the Audacity to Hate on one another while our kids are being NEGLECTED & REJECTED,” he wrote.
“I witnessed a multitude of kids that we played against that were more than qualified to be drafted,” Sanders added. “My prayers are that This won’t EVER happen again. Get yo knife out my back and fight with me not against me!”
The former Dallas Cowboys star isn’t the only person who is pissed that no HBCU players were recruited last week. Several HBCU coaches voiced their disappointment after none of their players were called to join a pro team.
“You can go back as far as you like, from Jerry Rice to Tarik Cohen,” North Carolina A&T Coach Sam Washington told The Washington Post. “The quality of the athlete is definitely within our league. Them being seen or not being seen, it happened. For what reasons, I have not figured that part out. But the fact is that it happened.”
Washington Football Team senior adviser Doug Williams graduated from an HBCU and became the first Black quarterback to win a Super Bowl. He said it’s “hard to believe that not one guy [from an HBCU] is worthy of being drafted” and called the issue a “travesty.”
Although no HBCU players were drafted, several of them signed with teams as undrafted free agents (UDFAs).
Check out Sanders’ post below.