Bomani Jones Reacts to Deion Sanders Leaving Jackson State for Colorado

The ESPN analyst said he “sold a dream and then walked out on the dream.”

Deion Sanders’s decision to leave Jackson State for Colorado raised eyebrows in the sports world and sparked debates on whether or not the move was ethical. Sanders always had spoken with pride about strengthening HBCUs, but his decision to take a Power 5 job after just two seasons with the Tigers has left many to criticize the move—including ESPN’s Bomani Jones. 

During an appearance on CNN, Jones used Sanders’s own words against him when discussing whether he should be criticized for taking the job. He was clear that he doesn’t blame Sanders for taking a more lucrative job, but he shouldn’t have said what he said when at Jackson State if this was his intention all along. 

“I wouldn’t have come in the first place and say that God sent me here to fix HBCUs and God decided in the middle of it you were supposed to leave,” Jones said. “The thing I’ve said is maybe God wants 10% of five mil and not 10% of 375 [hundred thousand dollars]. If God can do math, I can understand why it is. He sold a dream and then walked out on the dream. People have the right to be critical of that.”

Jones was likely referring to a September video in which Sanders said he was “called by God” when asked why he chose to coach an HBCU. Jones also says he believe Sanders always wanted to coach a Power 5 program, but never wanted to be an assistant, which led him to take the Jackson State job. 

“He did a lot of good work while he was at Jackson State,” Jones said. “But all the bigger grandiose notions of what he was doing for somebody else—nah it was what it always is: He did it for Deion.”

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• For more HBCU coverage, go to HBCU Legends.