The Patriots selected defensive back Isaiah Bolden of Jackson State, the only player from an HBCU program to hear his name called on draft day.
That prompted University of Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, a Pro Football Hall of Famer who previously coached at Jackson State, to tweet that he’s “ashamed” of the 31 teams that did not select a single HBCU player.
Bolden, who was drafted in the seventh round, agreed with Sanders.
“Only time I’ll speak on this,” Bolden said. “I agree 1000 percent with his statement. [I’m] beyond thankful for the opportunity to be selected by the Patriots. Let’s get to work.”
On Tuesday, Cowboys vice president of player personnel Will McClay was asked about the criticism leveled at the NFL by Sanders, who spent part of his playing career with the Cowboys.
“Deion’s doing a great job of promoting HBCUs and promoting Colorado and all those things,” McClay said, via Mike Fisher of SI.com. “And so that’s part of what the deal is. He wants to see players drafted. We want to draft good football players and good football players come from everywhere.”
NFL teams signed 20 HBCU players as undrafted free agents, including three of Sanders’ former players at Jackson State. McClay’s team, the Cowboys, have agreed to terms with one HBCU player — Florida A&M linebacker Isaiah Land.
“There’s not a conspiracy against drafting HBCU players,” McClay said. “We’re looking for players who can come from anywhere. I think that we’ve had the opportunities in the NFL in having things to highlight the HBCU schools.
“[ButI think the players have to have draftable grades [to be drafted].”
Cowboys’ Will McClay counters Deion Sanders’ “ashamed” criticism originally appeared on Pro Football Talk