Deion Sanders’s leaving Jackson State and the SWAC re-visits the division the Black community has around self-determination and self-preservation

When Deion Sanders came to Jackson State in 2020, it sent ripples throughout not only college football but the entirety of the sports world. “Prime Time” was one of the best and most electrifying athletes of his generation. One of the few two-sport professional athletes in all of history. A perennial winner at the highest levels in sports, he was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. Deion Sanders was a living and breathing brand that, despite being well past his “prime” as a professional athlete, still had the gravity to attract the bright lights in his direction. Jackson State? The SWAC? An HBCU? Prime Time? But, he was spitting gospel and game. He came to change the game, literally. To elevate the conference and this school in Mississippi to unprecedented levels. He would do it through the sheer force of his skills, his will, and his celebrity. He had the shoulders and gravitas that they could stand on to bring forth a new day in small college sports. His colleagues at other SWAC schools bristled and snickered. But Black people, Black students, and alumni of other HBCUs sat in their pews every Saturday to hear the word in their Sunday best, fans waving and ears tingling. 

Fast forward to this past November, and the altar has been vacated. Deion announced that he is leaving Jackson State for a PWI, The University of Colorado, at the end of this season. Leaving the SWAC for the Pac-12 under many circumstances wouldn’t raise an eyebrow or move the needle for a young up-and-coming coach making this leap. This was different, though because Deion is far from just any young up-and-coming coach. This was a betrayal. The connection that is being severed is deeply layered and cuts across so many intersections of the black community. It didn’t help that Deion’s messaging about his reasons for coming to and staying at Jackson State positioned him as a race man looking to transform not just one school, but the fraternity of institutions that are HBCUs. He had become “Nation Time”. Or had he? The hurt that’s been felt has been deep and raw, and all types of accusations have been thrown back and forth between Deion and the public. 

There have been questions around his integrity and whether or not he truly meant his words, or was this job always a “stepping stone” to a better job? Was this merely a case of a deal too good to pass up? It is the Pac-12, after all, a major bowl conference, but Colorado? And what about the promises he made to the students he recruited? To their families? He will have left the school without even seeing through one graduating class. His move from Jackson State to Colorado was clocked faster than his forty times (4.27 if you’re looking at Wikipedia). What about the sermons and proselytizing around changing the state of Black colleges? Where did all that go? And then, there is the other side of the coin. The right to, in truth, advance one’s career. The money that he will allegedly make will far exceed what he could make at Jackson State. And yea, it is only Colorado, but they are in the Pac 12. The level of recruiting, facilities, and opportunities for glory and prestige, if he can make them into a top-level program again, is a much higher ceiling. This couldn’t just be a business decision, however, according to the cookout. He had a duty and a responsibility to lift us up. He got out of the hood, and now he had to give back. For many, it felt like abandonment and triggered deeper feelings around the larger decay facing so many Black institutions across the country. Lack of investment and endowment has left so many Black schools in states of disarray and lagging well behind. Deion’s coming for many signaled hope; it was a symbol that one of the best of us was putting our hands in the soil, ready to till the earth and build. Until Deion pulled them out of the dirt, washed them, and supposedly put on some white gloves to roll over to the big house. But is that fair to Deion, though? Nothing about his career is Doug Williams or Eddie Robinson Sr. He definitely made the church he was preaching in, but at no point from Florida State to the Braves, the Yankees, 49ers, Cowboys, or Falcons did Deion ever signal someone who was down to fight the power. At the same time, Deion put himself in a unique position to be a trailblazer and actually have a shot at producing what he preached. The truth is, he is someone who does have the political nous and public star power to truly break down barriers and change opinions, as well as put pressure on Jackson State to raise the standards. His very presence raises the stakes not just for them but for every black institution. 

Here’s the thing, the decline or state of HBCUs could never be fixed or righted by one individual, no matter how larger than the life they were. For our institutions to be restored and renewed, it will take deep investment from not just its alums but from many prominent members of our community at large. It will take not only that but also a deep commitment from more in our community to attend these institutions and renew them from the inside. Faculty as well as students. The Herculean effort to revitalize our communities can never be about a solo heroic figure; our history has always been about a collective will to achieve. In his playing days, Deion was famous for being one of the best one-on-one defenders in his position. In football, they call it being on an “island.” In this case, however, Deion never had a chance to win this duel one v one.