Jackson State Players Defend Deion Sanders In Midst Of Backlash

Jackson State players aren't mad that Deion Sanders packed his bags and left to take the Colorado job.

Sanders left JSU after a trio of successful seasons, and is now a head coach in the PAC-12. While the college football world is very excited to see how it all plays out, not everyone seems to be super pumped.

For example, Bomani Jones claimed Deion "sold a dream and then walked out on the dream" when he left the Tigers.

In a great piece from Complex, multiple members of the Jackson State Tigers team were interviewed about their thoughts on Sanders leaving.

To the shock of nobody paying attention, the players were happy to see Sanders move up to the P5 at a state's flagship university.

Jackson State players defend Deion Sanders.

"I’m not mad at Coach Prime for doing what he did because at the end of the day, you gotta evolve. You gotta elevate. He said ‘look y’all, this is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life’ and I believe him. He said ‘it’s not because of the decision I’m making, it’s because of the decision that all of you guys have to make when I’m gone and that’s what stresses me out the most.’ That hit me. I’m not mad at my head coach ... Coach Prime didn’t use Jackson State, he had to elevate. If Coach Prime left 10 years from now, people would probably still bash him," Jurriente Davis explained in part to the publication when talking about how he views Deion Sanders leaving and some backlash.

Jason Mercier echoed Davis' thoughts and told Compex, "He did it for a good reason. From my opinion, it was a great decision he made. I feel like social media has been wrong to do that in the first place. They shouldn’t be bad-talking him, he did a lot to get this far."

"I just think people need to see the positive instead of harping on the negative. Coach Prime is a great dude. People don’t understand how he thinks  because he’s just that guy. One thing Coach Prime tells us all the time is that he’s loyal to winning. He benched Shilo (Sanders) a numerous amount of times, his own blood. His loyalty is winning. The bashing on Coach Prime is crazy to me," Isaiah Bolden said when explaining his view of the situation.

In life, you have to do what's best for you. As Sanders told his players when he left, you either get elevated or terminated in coaching.

Sanders chose to elevate himself to the PAC-12. Clearly, his players are 100% supportive of the move, and at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks.

Now, all eyes are on Sanders to see what he can do with the Buffaloes. Win or lose, it's going to be a wild ride in Boulder.

Written by
David Hookstead is a reporter for OutKick covering a variety of topics with a focus on football and culture. He also hosts of the podcast American Joyride that is accessible on Outkick where he interviews American heroes and outlines their unique stories. Before joining OutKick, Hookstead worked for the Daily Caller for seven years covering similar topics. Hookstead is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin.