Leading up to the anticipated matchup between Alabama State and Jackson State much of the talk surrounding the game featured Deion Sanders’ disenchantment with his team being relegated to a homecoming opponent.
After the game, it was Hornets’ coach Eddie Robinson who displayed his own.
Moments after Jackson State ran its SWAC winning streak to 12 games with a 26-12 win over the Hornets on Saturday, Robinson and Sanders meet each other at midfield for the traditional postgame handshake.
Who was wrong ? 👀 pic.twitter.com/Qnlnm5yvOf
— Lord Commander of The Night’s Watch (@BerryandBeyond) October 9, 2022
Both coaches slapped hands before Robinson pushed Sanders away after an attempted hug and headed to the locker room. Sanders, flanked by law enforcement and others, was perplexed at what transpired.
Robinson after the exchange explained that Sanders’ behavior prior to the game and comments during the week was “disrespectful.”
“He ain’t SWAC. I’m SWAC.”😳 Alabama State HC Eddie Robinson about Jackson State HC Deion Sanders #bamastate #swac #swarmas1 #theeibelieve pic.twitter.com/sJuZjnSXdB
— The Wild Card (@wildcard2k) October 8, 2022
“I thought it was a lot of disrespect the whole week,” said a fuming Robinson to the media when asked what led to the exchange. “You’re not going to be disrespectful the whole week in the media.
“I’m not about to give you the Obama bro hug after the game.”
Robinson, who played at Alabama State, also went on to say that Sanders “ain’t SWAC” because of his non-HBCU background.
“I’m standing on the shoulders of the SWAC,” he said. “He ain’t SWAC. I’m SWAC. You’re not going to come in and disrespect my team, my school and then bro hug. Shake my hand and get the hell on.”
Robinson was also not pleased that the Jackson State offense attempted a deep pass with backup quarterback JP Andrade in the final minute with the game already decided.
“S*** is disrespectful,” he said. “The game was out of line. The score was 26-12 with 40 seconds left and we had no timeouts. Take a damn knee. I hope he comes back next year. I pray he doesn’t get a Power 5 job and we play them next year in Jackson. I pray that we play them for their damn homecoming.”
Sanders explained the situation from his perspective.
“My exact words was, ‘Hey man, you had them ready to play. Good game,'” Sanders told The Clarion-Ledger. “Shook hands and tried to embrace and he pushed off. That was it.”
“It could be a plethora of things,” Sanders added. “I think he thought he was going to get a win. I don’t know why he would’ve ever thought that. … Secondly he said that I didn’t come to greet him in the center of the field. I don’t know if you understand but we got here very late. So that expedited our whole process of preparation. So then we were in like, ‘let’s go get it (mode).”
Jealousy is silent rage. The SWAC doesn’t belong to any individual – like all conferences it is to be shared by those who choose to not only be part of it but whomever promotes it with the kind of dignity Coach Sanders has displayed throughout his tenure. Yes he and now JSU gets all the shine – but a great deal of that light aka shine has benefited the coffers of all HBCU teams – SWAC or not. Some will be winners and there will be losers but Remember HBCU’s are stronger than a conference- collectively we are family. Don’t get mad at Dieon he is simply the messenger.