Shannon Sharpe, Fox Sports Undisputed co-host with Skip Bayless, disputed Deion Sanders' assessment of the HBCU talent in the 2023 NFL Draft. Sharpe, a Pro Football Hall of Famer and alumnus of an HBCU is a close friend of Sanders. It's not unusual for them to have different opinions on the troubling results for HBCU players after this season's draft.
Jackson State defensive back Isaiah Bolden was selected by the New England Patriots as the 245th overall draft pick in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Sanders tweeted concerning Bolden after the draft , "So proud of you, Isaiah Bolden. You deserved to be drafted much higher, but I'm truly proud of you. I know how much you want this. I'm ashamed of the 31 other NFL teams that couldn't find draft value in ALL of the talented HBCU players & we had 3 more draft-worthy players at JSU."
On Monday morning, Shannon Sharpe responded on the Fox Sports program. "I'm going to disagree with Prime [Deion Sanders] on this one," Sharpe said to Skip Bayless. "I believe if the guys were talented enough to get drafted, I believe they would have got drafted."
Bill Belichick, the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach, and the New England Patriots found something exceptional in Bolden to use a draft pick on him. Bolden demonstrated impressive speed by running a 4.33 40-yard dash at the JSU Pro Day.
The draft results around the HBCU sports circles have been a hotbed topic since Saturday afternoon. HBCU and NFL legend Doug Williams said he was "stunned" that more players didn't receive calls to be drafted. Grambling alumni Williams and James "Shack" Harris have worked tirelessly over the past two seasons to showcase the talents of over 200 HBCU players. The two Grambling alums founded the HBCU Combine or HBCU Legacy Bowl for players to meet professional scouts and executives before the drafts. So, NFL teams had enough tape and resources to properly scout, research, and study prospective HBCU players.
The four top conference commissioners for HBCUs have not issued any statement about the draft results - nor do I expect them to do so. They meet with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the executive staff each year to assist their HBCU football programs. Hopefully, the issue would be addressed.
Currently, 20 undrafted players from HBCUs have either signed UDFA rookie contracts or been invited to attend upcoming rookie mini-camps.
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