Deion Sanders claps back at critics who bashed him leaving Jackson State for Colorado football

On SI's Jason Jones believes Deion Sanders' tweet about "selling out" -- claiming that the critics must've been talking about the sold-out crowd at Folsom Field for the North Dakota State game -- was a shot at the critics who chastised his decision to leave Jackson State for the Colorado football program in 2022.

"In a post shortly after the victory, Sanders directly addressed critics who have labeled him a sell out," Jones prefaced before saying, "Although the precise reason for his post was unclear, it likely responded to ongoing criticism of his decision to leave Jackson State abruptly for Colorado. This move sparked controversy, with some accusing Sanders of abandoning the HBCU community that he had previously championed."

Andscape's William C. Rhoden captured the belief system of those who felt betrayed by Coach Prime leaving an HBCU after three seasons; one of which was shortened to seven games because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

To that crowd, Sanders was merely using an HBCU for his own gain.

"While Sanders attracted national media attention — including a 60 Minutes interview – I never got the sense the media that flocked to him really understood the HBCU experience," Rhoden prefaced before saying, "I’m not sure he ever completely got the experience either – he didn’t stay long enough to really get it. Just before last year’s Celebration Bowl, Sanders announced he was leaving Jackson State for Colorado.

"As I spoke with coaches and conference commissioners this weekend, the consensus was he had used Black college football for his personal gain, but bottom line: Black college football was and always will be."

Deion Sanders cannot let Jackson State-related criticism affect Colorado football career

Coach Prime will never win over those who believe he used Jackson State as a stepping stone unless he goes back to the SWAC. That's not happening.

So the way forward is to ignore this criticism entirely. Giving it any oxygen indicates he may believe there's truth to the claims. Bragging about crowd sizes is definitely not going to win those people over. If that's even what Sanders is interested in doing.

Whatever Sanders needs to do to be at peace with his coaching past must be done ASAP. Because even if his post was to create engagement and he isn't bothered, he's still putting Colorado in the background of his own narrative.

This is not what he should be doing after an exciting Week 1 win where his two best players, Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, looked as good as advertised and the team showed improvement in key areas in the second half.