Colorado football fans taunt rivals with anti-Mormon chants as senator slams 'religious slurs and bigotry'

The University of Colorado has been fined $50,000 after their students were heard making inappropriate chants against players for Brigham Young University (BYU) last weekend.

During the game, students were heard chanting 'F*** BYU' and 'F*** the Mormons' during their contest. BYU is the most prominent Mormon school in the world and is directly owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

After the game, Colorado coach Deion Sanders issued an apology to the school, but also pleaded, 'Don't indict us just based on a group of young kids that probably was intoxicated and high simultaneously... BYU, we love you. We appreciate you, and we support you.'

The university released their own statement condemning the language used, saying 'Such behavior is deeply disappointing and does not reflect the values of respect, inclusion and integrity we expect of our campus community.'

Despite the apology and the pleas, the Big 12 Conference still fined the school. 'Hateful and discriminatory language has no home in the Big 12 Conference,' conference commissioner Brett Yormark said in a statement.

'While we appreciate Colorado apologizing for the chants that occurred in the stands during Saturday's game, the Big 12 maintains zero tolerance for such behavior.' 

The chants from fans also drew scorn from Utah's Republican Senator Mike Lee (a Mormon and a BYU graduate) who posted on his personal X account, 'I'm not sure why, but "F the Mormons" chants have become far too common at BYU's away games.

'Funny thing - the host schools generally don't seem to be the least bit concerned about it, even though all of them have many Latter-day Saints enrolled as students. 

'And in the case of last night's game at the University of Colorado, it was so much more - meaning much worse - than a chant. It was hours upon hours of religious slurs and bigotry.'

This is far from the first time that BYU has been subject to these kinds of chants. 

Last December, students at Providence College chanted 'F*** the Mormons' during a basketball game against BYU.

The school's athletic director publicly condemned his student's actions.

BYU won the game on Saturday 24-21 after their first trip to Boulder since 1981.