Former ESPN broadcaster Sage Steele said the network deserved to be crushed for not showing 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 the previous day.
Appearing on “OutKick the Morning,” Steele appeared stunned that ESPN failed to air the national anthem that day, which the company chalked up to “timing issues.”
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The national anthem will be played before the 2024 Sugar Bowl between the Texas Longhorns and the Washington Huskies at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. (Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports)
“It was so intense and I tweeted about it and I put it on my Instagram and I really try to stay away from too much that revolves around my former employer. That life is gone and I’m so glad to be over it, thankful for the years, I couldn’t help it Charly because it was such an obvious decision for me to skip,” Steele told host OutKick’s Charly Arnolt.
“You’re a mile away, maybe less than in New Orleans, from where all these people were murdered on the morning of what was supposed to be the game that was broadcast on ESPN. And you chose to ignore it when people are suffering and it’s so much bigger than football? They were crushed, and deservedly so, because they didn’t.
Steele said ESPN showing the pregame prayer last week was a response 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 BACKFALL FOR NOT SHOWING THE NATIONAL FLEET AFTER TERROR ATTACKS
“So I definitely think this was a reaction to that. I actually think it went overboard … show the national anthem,” she said. “Do you need to show the prayer? And I also think the prayer was — they said it was to pray for the victims of the fires in California and the terrorist attack in New Orleans. [We’re] a little too late for that.”
“Look, I pray every single day. I pray for those people constantly, so I guess we shouldn’t focus on that,” Steele continued. “But from a business perspective, what do we do? Just be consistent. And I guess it wouldn’t be a good thing if they were consistent in this case, right? Because they [would’ve] continued to do wrong to mankind.”
(John Korduner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images/File)
“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, one of the many reasons why ESPN as a whole is no longer what it once was.”
