Jackson State fell to North Carolina Central in the Cricket Celebration Bowl on Saturday. Deion Sanders’ final game as coach of the Tigers unfortunately resulted in an overtime loss. But a lot has obviously been on the minds of Deion, the Tigers, Deion’s new team at Colorado, and those in and around the Jackson State program.
Jackson State won’t have Prime on the sidelines anymore. Sanders left Jackson State to coach at Colorado, a big-time hire for the Buffaloes as they seek national relevance again. Deion’s son, Shedeur, is anticipated to jump to CU after he entered the transfer portal recently.
Shedeur had the opportunity to speak after the game on his experience at Jackson State. The Tigers’ quarterback had a lot to say while he reflected on his time with the program and in the city of Jackson, Mississippi.
“Being at Jackson State, I would say it’s eye-opening,” Sanders said.
“The spotlight here, everything’s here. It’s some things that not up to par, but it’s good and bad with everything. So the people, the fans, everything about the city of Jackson, I love,” Sanders admitted. He spoke of the alleged crime in the city, which he said they never encountered, and still was enamored with the city.
“Just the whole HBCU family, talking to them in the airport, playing around with them. It’s… it’s nothing I’ve ever, I’ve ever been around before. I went to private school in high school. So, being around a lot of people of our own color and our own time is truly fun. And we was able to play for the city. You gotta understand, the city doesn’t have any national teams. It only has college. So, I mean, it’s just giving hope to the city for something different. Having something, just being there talking to kids at Blackburn Middle School. Them being able to connect with us, them being able to just talk to us and play with us.”
Shedeur spoke about the time and how they shared food with kids who’d never had the food before. He spoke of a greater purpose, much like his father did on Friday.
“Being in Jackson, I just feel like, it’s just eye-opening for everybody. Kids will have someone to look up to. Kids will want to be a Jackson State Tiger one day,” Sanders concluded.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022