Eddie Robinson Jr. explains what being SWAC means to him

Some 48 hours after Eddie Robinson Jr. and Deion Sanders were involved in a postgame confrontation that led to discussions about handshake decorum, sportsmanship and who was authentically SWAC.

On Monday Robinson, the Alabama State coach put to bed what SWAC meant to him after saying Sanders “ain’t SWAC” following Saturday’s 26-12 win by Jackson State.

“SWAC goes deep for me; it means something to me,” Robinson said. “Playing in the NFL, we would talk with guys like Jimmy Smith and Ashley Ambrose after the game. It meant something. We didn’t let everybody say they were SWAC; you’ve got to earn that.”

Robinson, who worked his way from walk-on at Alabama State to a second-round NFL draft pick in the early 90s, said he was a big-time Southern fan growing up in New Orleans.

“It’s about going through the HBCU ranks, riding the bus from here to Houston to play a game. We fly now, but those were the things we went through playing in the late ’80s early ’90s,” he said. That’s where I was, from an emotional standpoint. It didn’t have any bearing on the game. It was a great game. Hopefully, we can get the focus back to the kids and not the coaches.”

Sanders wasn’t asked about the incident or Robinson’s comments on Monday, though he did rhetorically ask “Who is SWAC if I ain’t SWAC?” in the aftermath of Saturday’s game.