Whitlock: Deion Sanders shames NFL for modeling ‘Prime Time’ narcissism

Deion Sanders is ashamed of the 31 NFL teams that did not draft a player from a historically black college or university. The all-time great football player expressed his contempt via social media, tweeting:

“So proud (of) you @isaiabolden23 You deserved to be drafted much higher but I’m truly proud of u. I know how much u want this. I’m ashamed of the 31 other @nfl teams that couldn’t find draft value in ALL of the talented HBCU players & we had 3 more draft worthy players at JSU.”

The New England Patriots selected Isaiah Bolden, a cornerback from Jackson State, in the seventh round of this weekend’s draft. He was the lone player picked from a historically black college or university. Sanders coached at Jackson State for two years before bolting to Colorado this off-season.

In recent years, corporate sports media has run with the narrative that NFL teams are unfairly avoiding selecting HBCU players, insinuating that racial bias is at the root of franchises choosing players from predominantly white schools.

Which raises the obvious question: What’s at the root of Sanders choosing a white university over Jackson State? Is Deion Sanders racist? Is he ashamed of himself?

I’m ashamed of the unapologetic shallowness and cowardice of jocks, ex-jocks, and jock-sniffers. American sports had long been a safe space for masculinity. Now they’re a haven for victimhood and illogical whining. Real men live in the closet in the sports world. Afraid of the social media and financial backlash for speaking the truth, men avoid speaking common sense the way my father’s generation evaded wannabe women holstering a bat and balls.

Can American men’s sports remain popular when the participants are this dislikable? This devoid of morality, courage, and honesty? This filled with feminine energy and racial idolatry?

The first 10 picks of the draft were black players. Three of the first four picks were black quarterbacks. An hour into the draft, my mother texted me: “It has been a black show so far.”

She wasn’t just referring to the selections. The draft looked like the BET Image Awards. Loud, flamboyant suits. Gaudy jewelry layered around necks, wrists, and ears. Baby mamas celebrating their male lottery tickets cashing in. Overweight women in ill-fitting dresses. Enough hair weave to draw the ire of PETA.

The NFL Draft might as well have been the Met Gala or a Paris fashion show. It’s been stripped of all masculinity and authenticity. Next year, Mel Kiper will be asked to wear his hair in a bun.

I turned it off after an hour. Over the weekend, I checked Twitter every couple of hours to find out who the Chiefs picked and to see if anyone drafted Warren Central High School product Julius Brents and Ball State corner Nic Jones. To my pleasant surprise, my hometown Colts nabbed Brents in round two, and my favorite team, the Chiefs, took Jones in the seventh round.

I used to love the draft. Now I can’t stomach watching it. It’s just another event in the Racial Victimhood Olympics.

Deion Sanders took the gold medal. The super-wealthy black man who abandoned HBCUs after two years can’t understand why the NFL shops for talent outside the chitlin circuit? Really?

The NFL used to routinely draft players from black colleges before all the best black players started attending white schools. In 1968, according to Wikipedia, the NFL selected 11 players from the Tigers. In 1975, five Tigers were selected, including running back Walter Payton and linebacker Robert Brazille, two members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Is the NFL more racist in 2023 than in 1975? It’s unlikely.

The best black players go to Alabama, Michigan, Georgia, LSU, etc. They go to predominantly white universities by choice. The exact same as Deion Sanders. As a player, Deion chose Florida State. As a coach, he chose Colorado.

Deion wants 31 NFL teams to make a choice and/or sacrifice he was unwilling to make. That’s a cowardly mindset. It’s the mindset of the modern elite athlete or coach: Avoid sacrifice and criticism by any means necessary.

Not one NFL owner, executive, scout, or coach will call out Sanders’ hypocritical nonsense. They’re afraid. They know the race-baiting pundits at ESPN and Fox Sports would chastise them. Men lack balls and conviction.

Excluding anti-vaxxer Kyrie Irving, there are virtually no modern versions of Jackie Robinson and Muhammad Ali. Robinson sacrificed so that the next generation of black athletes could benefit. Ali sacrificed three years of his boxing prime because of his anti-war beliefs.

Modern athletes protect their brands above all else. On topics they know little about, they regurgitate talking points handed to them by their brand managers. They remain silent on the relevant and controversial issues impacting the sports world.

WNBA martyr Brittney Griner wants biological men to compete against women. She says it would be a crime to deny trans “women” the right to compete against real women.

Every male athlete and coach should speak out against this lunacy. It’s unfair to their daughters, nieces, and every biological woman. It’s real discrimination.

I’m ashamed that Deion Sanders and thousands of other big-time athletes won’t man up and protect women. But narcissists spend all their energy and courage on managing their own reputations. Deion blasted the NFL to deflect from his own betrayal of HBCUs.

The modern “blacktivist” always demands that others make the sacrifice he won’t.