Jackson State’s Deion Sanders Leaves SWAC Media Day After Being Called ‘Deion’

AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

Jackson State football head coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders walked out of SWAC Media Day on Tuesday after being referred to by his first name twice, per Langston Newsome of the Clarion-Ledger.

“You don’t call [Alabama head coach Nick Saban], ‘Nick.’ Don’t call me Deion,” Sanders reportedly told Nick Suss of the Clarion-Ledger. 

“If you call Nick [Saban], Nick, you’ll get cussed out on the spot, so don’t do that to me,” Sanders added. “Treat me like Nick.”

Sanders is entering his second year coaching Jackson State. He led the team to a 4-3 overall record (3-2 SWAC) last year.

Suss provided a few remarks in response, per Newsome:

“When I interview people, I call them by their first name. Whether it’s someone I’ve been working with for years or someone I’m talking to for the first time. This is true of the coaches and players on the Ole Miss beat, the coaches and players at Mississippi State and Southern Miss when I help out covering their teams and, as recently as January, even Sanders, too.” 

In regards to Sanders’ comments about Saban, multiple media members provided responses on Twitter, including Chase Goodbread of NFL.com and Barrett Sallee of CBS Sports:

Sanders has previously said on social media that HBCU players were being “neglected” and “rejected” while also writing that they were “more than qualified to be drafted.”