Deion Sanders had “mixed emotions” after making his Jackson State coaching debut on Sunday. Sanders’ team defeated Edward Waters 53-0, but after the game, the Pro Football Hall of Famer revealed his personal items were stolen. He told reporters that someone stole the items out of the coaches office.
“For one, the kids played really well,” a visibly upset Sanders said during his postgame news conference, as reported by ESPN. “But while the game was going on, someone came in and stole every darn thing I have in the coaches’ office. Credit cards, wallet, watches. Thank god I had on my necklaces.” He then used the situation to describe how “when I talk about quality and raising the standards, that goes for everyone, man, not just the people on the field, not just the coaches, not just the teachers, not just the faculty. But that’s everybody. Security and everybody.”
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Coach Prime said someone stole all of the belongings in his office during the game. pic.twitter.com/HEMRLv7IgI
— Rashad Milligan (@RashadMilligan) February 21, 2021
Shortly after the news conference, Jackson State released a statement saying the items were found. “While we consider this an isolated incident, we are thoroughly reviewing security protocols to ensure this does not happen again,” the school said. However, we refuse to let this dampen our victory for our JSU Tigers, who have worked hard for this moment. We want them to enjoy this time, as we look forward to more game-winning celebrations in the future.”
Jackson State officials to Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated that Sanders’ items were misplaced and not stolen. However, the former NFL cornerback went to Twitter to dispute that fact, writing: “Whomever putting out the lie that my belongings wasn’t stolen is LYING. My belongings were taken out of a zipped bag in my office and more items were taken as well from my office. We have retrieved them since being reported. My Staff member witnessed the crime.”
Naw it was stolen but they got it back. It was stolen out my personal bag in my office and My assistant caught the gentleman in the process of stealing it but she was alone. No Miscommunication my man at all https://t.co/foXTKwqsQC
— COACH PRIME (@DeionSanders) February 22, 2021
Sanders was hired to be the head coach at Jackson State in September. Previously, he was the offensive coordinator at Trinity Christian School in Cedar Hill, Texas, for three seasons. Jackson State’s game on Saturday was the first of its seven-game spring season that runs through April.
