Alabama State head coach blasts Deion Sanders following game
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Jackson State outscored Alabama State 26-6 over the final three quarters to move to 5-0 and 3-0 in SWAC play. While it was a hard-fought game until the final whistle, the action that followed was even more interesting.
Tigers' head coach Deion Sanders and Hornets' head coach Eddie Robinson Jr. met for the typical post-game handshake at midfield after the game. Sanders went to embrace Robinson, who pushed him away and headed for the locker room.
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The exchange wasn't over just yet as Robinson blasted Sanders during his post-game press conference. He felt that the former Florida State star and multi-sport professional turned coach disrespected his team leading up to the contest.
"We hand-shaked and that was it. It ain't no need for no embrace. We ain't friends. He ain't never call me, I ain't never call him," Robinson Jr. said after the game. "Great player. S--t. Everybody wanted to be Prime Time when they was a little kid. Great player, all that, got tons of respect for the guy, doing a great job as a coach. But, you can't do all that stuff all week and then come back, put your backup quarterback in and run a hitch and go to try and put more points on the board."
"S--t's disrespectful. Game was out of line, it was 26-12, 40 seconds left, we had no timeouts. Take a damn knee. Want to try and run a hitch and go. So, we started blitzing, we going to knock him out the game too. That's how we got to play, it ain't no quarters given. So, you want to do that, don't come up to me and try to bro hug me like we friends. We ain't friends. You didn't shake my hand before the game, why you shaking my hand after the game? Period. That's it."
The first-year head coach wasn't happy with a couple of comments that Sanders made during the week. He also stated that the coach walked through Alabama State's warmups. Something else that caught Robinson Jr.'s ire was that Jackson State threw the ball with its backup quarterback during the final minute of the game despite leading by two scores and the Hornets having no timeouts left.
"Me being up front, I thought it was a lot of disrespect the whole week. So, we not going to be disrespectful the whole week in the media," Robinson Jr. said. We [Robinson Jr. and Sanders] didn't talk in the pregame, I was out there the whole time at the 50-yard line. He walked through our whole huddle in our end zone and came the long way around to get to his side of the field in pregame. I thought that wasn't classy at all."
"In the post-game, I'm not about to give you the Obama bro-up. I'm going to shake your hand and I'm going to go home," Robison Jr. continued. "I'm gonna always be respectful and respect the game. "You've got the great [coaches], W.C. Gorden, Eddie Robinson, those guys, Marino Casem. I'm living on the shoulders of the SWAC. He ain't SWAC. You know, I'm SWAC, he ain't SWAC."
Robinson Jr. made it clear that he wants Sanders to remain at Jackson State for another year. There will be plenty of motivation for revenge in 2023.
"So he's in the conference doing a great job, can't knock that, got a great team. Son should be up for the Heisman Trophy and I love Shedeur, great player, I love what he's doing for the conference. Probably one of the best that we've had since Steve McNair when he was in there," Robinson Jr. said. "But, you're not going to come here and disrespect me and my team and my school and then want to bro up. Shake my hand and get the hell on. Period, you got the W, great job."
"I hope he comes back next year, I pray he don't get a Power-5 job so we can play them next year in Jackson. And I pray, they put us for their damn homecoming."
Check out the video below.
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