Former ESPN star Sage Steele says the company deserves to be ‘crushed’ for not showing the anthem before the Sugar Bowl.

Former ESPN broadcaster Sage Steele said the network deserved to be crushed for not showing 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 “Run away from the morning” and was surprised that ESPN was unable to show the national anthem that day, which the company attributed to a “timing issue.”

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The national anthem is 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 horrible and I tweeted about it and I put it on my Instagram and I’m really trying to stay away from too many things revolving around my ex-employer. That life is gone and I’m so glad I’m gone. I’m grateful for those years, Charlie can help I didn’t know because it was an obvious decision for me,” Steele told host OutKick’s Charly Arnolt. on tuesday.

“You’re a mile away from the one in New Orleans where all the people were killed the morning of the game on ESPN. And you ignored it when people were suffering. Is this bigger than football?

Steele said ESPN’s showing of his pregame prayer last week was a reaction to the backlash he received Sugar bowl.

Sage Steele (Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Bullseye Event Team/File)

PRE-GAME PRAYER TO SHOW NATIONAL ANTHEM AFTER ESPN TERROR ATTACK.

“So I absolutely think it was a reaction to that. I think it really went overboard … cue the national anthem,” he said. “Should we say a prayer? And I believe the prayer was for the victims of the California fires and the terrorist attack. New Orleans. (We are) a little late for that.”

“Listen, I pray every day. I pray for those people all the time, so I think we shouldn’t focus on that,” Steele continued. “But from a business perspective, what do we do? Just be consistent. I think it wouldn’t be a good thing if they were consistent in this, right? Because they would keep making mistakes. It’s a human thing.”

(John Korduner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images/File)

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“This is what it is. It’s bigger than business, it’s bigger than sports. It’s about humanity, and I guess (I’m) not surprised by what happened at the Sugar Bowl. I’m very saddened and disappointed because that’s one reason, one of many reasons, ESPN as a whole It’s not what it used to be.”

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