Deion Sanders is Giving HBCUs the Wrong Attention

Making Deion Sanders the coach of Jackson State came with the media coverage that HBCUs rightly deserve, but so far it Sanders has given a bad perception of what HBCUs represent.

It didn’t take too long for there to be controversy surrounding Deion Sanders after his first win as Jackson State coach. On Feb. 21st, Jackson State beat Edward Waters 53–0 in their season opener, but it was reported that during the game Sanders’ belongings were stolen outside of his office. Later on, it was reported by ESPN that his items were not stolen but that they were misplaced. Sanders later on emphatically denied those claims and repeatedly said that they stole everything in his locker room.

Sanders immediately started the postgame press conference after their blowout win against Edward Water saying that someone stole his items.

“Let me start by saying God bless you, I appreciate you, but I’m pissed off right now because I have mixed emotions,” said Sanders. “We won and the kids played very well but while the game was going on somebody came in and stole every darn thing in my locker room.”

Sanders also rushed to social media to tweet that the claims that his items were not stolen were false.

“Whomever putting out the lie that my belongings wasn’t stolen is LYING. My belongings were taken out of a zipped bag in my office and more items were taken as well from my office. We have retrieved them since being reported. My staff member witnessed the crime. #Truth,” Sanders tweeted.

When Jackson State hired Deion Sanders it was deemed to be a positive thing for not only Jackson State but for all HBCUs. Sanders is a pro football Hall of Famer and is regarded as one of the best, if not, the best cornerback to ever play the game. The Hall of Famer was set to shed light on Jackson State and put them on the map with the media coverage following him. Although Sanders has brought attention to Jackson State, in this case he has brought negative attention to the school.

Why couldn’t Sanders keep those allegations in the house? What role would the media play in getting his belongings back?

The allegations coming out that his items were stolen from his office, reinforces the stereotypes America has on black people. The perception that black people are “thugs” and “ghetto” was brought to light with Sanders making these allegations public.

Furthermore, this was a rare occasion that an HBCU was put on national television. The game aired on WatchESPN and ESPN 3. Instead of talking about Jackson State dominating Edwards Water and making a statement to the SWAC conference, the media was talking about Sanders’ items being stolen.

When Deion first came to the post-game press conference, all he said was that we won and the kids played very well, but he immediately made it about himself. After the press conference, a report came out from HBCU Gameday that the items were not stolen but a member of the JSU staff secured them. Sanders, later on, went on Twitter to deny the report that there was a miscommunication and double down on his claim that his items were stolen and one of his assistant coaches caught the person in the process of stealing.

Sanders was clearly upset that his items were stolen, regardless if they were recovered. However, it would be better to keep this matter “in-house” before telling the public.

Making Deion Sanders the coach of Jackson State came with the media coverage that HBCUs rightly deserve, but so far it Sanders has given a bad perception of what HBCUs represent. From now on, people that don’t know too much about HBCUs, but have heard Sanders’ allegations after the game will already have the wrong idea for what HBCUs stand for.

In the black community, oftentimes when black people make wrong decisions, society will try to generalize those actions as a representation of all black people. Sanders clearly was not thinking about this during the press conference and on Twitter.

This could also negatively impact future HBCU student-athletes choosing HBCUs over predominantly white institutions. Parents might ask themselves, Is this a safe environment to bring my son or daughter to school?

All in all Sanders’ was not thinking about this when he told the media his items were stolen, and the only loser in this situation are HBCUs.

Miles Johnson is a sophomore Communications major and sports journalism minor at Morehouse College.