Another former Dallas Cowboys player has an opinion of what HBCUs should do.
Isaiah Bolden being the only HBCU player taken during the 2023 NFL Draft has sparked conversations about the value of Black College Football players, the NFL scouting process and even whether there were coordinated efforts to keep players from historically Black colleges out of the league.
Dez Bryant, who played the bulk of his NFL career with the Cowboys, suggested one way HBCUs could get more draft picks.
“In order for a HBCU to thrive you are going to have to throw these colleges into these big conferences like the big 12.. pac 12… SEC…etc and allow these colleges to get better over time… let’s keep it real,” Bryant wrote on Twitter.
Bryant also agreed with current Cowboys VP of player personnel Will McClay who said there was “no conspiracy” by NFL clubs to not draft HBCU players.
In order for a HBCU to thrive you are going to have to throw these colleges into these big conferences like the big 12.. pac 12… SEC…etc and allow these colleges to get better over time… let’s keep it real
— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) May 5, 2023
Will mclay speaking facts… it’s hard to grade talent from a HBCU because of the talent pool there… the lack of support and players willing to play at a HBCU…it’s a reason prime took himself his son Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter to boulder.. for better opportunities and… https://t.co/sZg02xeB5p
— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) May 5, 2023
Another former Cowboys player and Jackson State coach Deion Sanders, said he was ‘ashamed’ that NFL teams failed to draft more players from the HBCU ranks.
Bryant, who was a star receiver at Oklahoma State, acknowledged the NFL lacks equity when it comes to assessing HBCU prospects. He suggested that if schools could compete for the FBS national championship, that could be one way to reduce draft disparities.
“FACTS…HBCU don’t get treated fairly …they should get treated like notre dame before they where with a conference…play all power 5 schools.. go undefeated place your bid into the college playoffs…I bet you’ll get better talent and then we will see more guys get drafted from HBCU.”
But Bryant wasn’t the first to suggest HBCUs consider a Power 5 jump.
Last summer, 247 Sports analyst Carl Reed said JSU should make a play to move to the Big Ten to keep Sanders days after the conference was able to raid the Pac-12 for UCLA and USC.
Sanders himself used his Twitter platform in 2021 to suggest that Jackson State could fill the gaping void in the Big 12 with the official departures of Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC.
“@Big12Conference I would love to have a conversation with you,” he tweeted then.
In the face of criticism, Bryant went on the defensive, saying he would have considered an HBCU if he hadn’t decided to play for a coach in Mike Gundy who once supported the content of an extreme right wing cable news network.
“I went to Oklahoma state and very proud of my decision…if you would have read my entire thread you would have known nothing that came out of my mouth was degrading an HBCU,” he said. “If I didn’t play ball I probably would have attend an HBCU…”
