‘We Ain’t Noodling’: Deion Sanders Makes Head-Scratching Comments on What Black People Don’t Do

Deion Sanders, in a conversation at the Colorado Football Coaches Show, Coach Prime detailed what activities Black people do not engage in, without offering any real reasoning.

Sharing “three things Black folk don’t do,” Coach Prime made it clear what outdoor sports are just activities Black people don’t like to to participate in.

“We don’t deep-sea dive,” he shared, while his Colorado Buffaloes team had a bye week. “We don’t bungee-jump. We ain’t noodling, all right? We don’t do that.”

Instead of explaining the legitimacy of his claims, Coach Prime stated his distaste for catfish, disassociating himself from the likely assumption that Black people are fans of the popular seafood. According to NewsOne, the former NFL player referenced the fish in noodling, which is the practice of catching catfish with one’s hands or feet.

“I’m not getting in the water to do that, first of all,” Sanders continued when addressing the risk of getting bitten. “I’m not a swimmer, either. That is unbelievable.”

While he never broke down why Black people, from his perspective, do not bungee-jump, he did share his brief insights into why the Black community isn’t known for its passion for deep-sea diving. Or maybe these are activities Sanders just prefers to avoid.

“We ain’t going down there. Ain’t nothing down there I want to see,” Sanders said.

What Sanders may have failed to realize, however, is how his beliefs could perpetuate stereotypes that negatively impact Black people, given that his accusations were unfounded, at the very least, in deep-sea diving In September of last year, Dawn Wright became the first Black person to reach the deepest point known to human life on Earth, according to CBS News.

Why Sanders decided to go on the rant that simultaneously played into the stereotypes he has tried to break is unclear.