Former ESPN anchor Sage Steel The network said it deserved to be crushed for failing to show the national anthem on its main channel before the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans after the terrorist attack in the city the day before.
Steele appeared on “Morning departure.” He seemed surprised that ESPN failed to show the national anthem that day, which the company attributed 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. (Steven Liu – USA TODAY Sports)
“It was so terrible, I tweeted about it and put it on my Instagram, and I really try to stay away from a lot of what goes on around my previous employer. That life is over, and I'm so glad I'm gone.” “I'm grateful for those years,” Steele told OutKick's Charly Arnolt on Tuesday. “I couldn't help it, Charlie, because for me it was a stark decision to move on.”
“You're a mile away, probably less than you were in New Orleans, where all these people were murdered on the morning of what was supposed to be a game that was broadcast on ESPN. And you choose to ignore that when people are struggling and suffering.” It's much bigger than football? “They were crushed, and they deserve it, because they didn't do it.”
Steele said ESPN's offer of a pregame prayer last week was a response to the backlash she received for Sugar bowl.
Sage Steel (Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Bullseye Event Group/File)
“So, I absolutely believe this was a reaction to that. I think it went too far… showing the national anthem,” she said. “Do you need to show a prayer? And I also think the prayer was – they said it was to pray for the victims of the California fires and also the terrorist attack in New Orleans. (We're) a little behind on that.”
“Listen, I pray every day. I pray for these people constantly, so I think we shouldn't focus on that,” Steele continued. “But from a business perspective, what do we do? Just be consistent. And I think it wouldn't be a good thing if they were consistent in this case, right? Because (they would) keep making mistakes, something for humanity.”
(John Corduner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images/File)
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“This is what it is. This is bigger than business, this is bigger than sports. This is about humanity, and I guess I wasn't surprised by what happened in the Sugar Bowl. I was very sad and disappointed that this happened. The reason, one of the many reasons, is that ESPN as a whole didn't “It's the same as it was before.”
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