Former ESPN broadcaster Sage Steele said the network deserved to be crushed for failing to show the national anthem on its main channel ahead of the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans after the terrorist attack that took place in the city just the day prior.
Steele appeared on “OutKick the Morning” and appeared flabbergasted over ESPN failing to show the national anthem on that day, which the company chalked up to “timing issues.”
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The national anthem is played before the 2024 Sugar Bowl between the Texas Longhorns and Washington Huskies at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. (Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports)
“It was so egregious, and I tweeted about it and I put it on my Instagram, and I really do try and stay away from too much that revolves around my former employer. That life is gone, and I am so glad to be past it, grateful for those years. I couldn’t help it Charly, because it was such, to me, a blatant decision to skip,” Steele told host OutKick’s Charly Arnolt on Tuesday.
“You are a mile away, maybe less than in New Orleans, from where all of those people were murdered on the morning of what was supposed to be the game that was airing on ESPN. And you chose to ignore it when people are suffering and it’s so much bigger than football? They were crushed. They were crushed, and deservedly so, for not doing it.”
Steele said ESPN showing the pregame prayer last week was a reaction to the backlash it received over the Sugar Bowl.
Sage Steele (Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Bullseye Event Group/File)
ESPN AIRS PRE-GAME PRAYER FOR COTTON BOWL AFTER BACKLASH FOR NOT SHOWING NATIONAL ANTHEM AFTER TERROR ATTACK
“So, I absolutely think that this was a reaction to that. I think it actually went overboard … show the national anthem,” she said. “Do you need to show the prayer? And I also believe that the prayer was – they said it was to pray for the victims of the California fires as well as the terrorist attack in New Orleans. [We’re] a little late for that.”
“Listen, I pray every single day. I pray for those people constantly, so I guess we shouldn’t be focused on that,” Steele continued. “But from a business perspective, what are we doing? Just be consistent. And I guess it wouldn’t be a good thing if they were consistent in this case, would it? Because they [would’ve] continued to do the wrong thing for humanity.”
(John Korduner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images/File)
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“That’s what this is. This is bigger than business, this is bigger than sports. It’s about humanity, and I guess [I] wasn’t surprised by what happened at the Sugar Bowl. I was just so sad and disappointed because this is the reason why, one of many reasons why, ESPN as a whole is no longer what it once was.”
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