Deion Sanders is considered as one of the greatest athletes and top cornerbacks in NFL history. When the Hall of Famer became Jackson State’s football coach, he stated he was going to “level the playing field for HBCUs” and “prove there is a highway that takes you from JSU all the way to the NFL.”
After his first full season last fall, one in which JSU captured its first SWAC title since 2007 and its first 11-win season in program history, Sanders wasn’t done. He added more fuel to “leveling” the college football landscape conversation when Travis Hunter, one of the top recruits in the country, flipped his commitment from Florida State to JSU in December.
With Hunter’s decision and the sweeping impact of name, image and likeness playing a pivotal role in athletes’ choices of where they play college football, prominent football coaches in Power 5 conferences like Alabama’s Nick Saban believes JSU “paid a player a million dollars” to play for the Tigers’ program.
