Jackson State head football coach Deion Sanders walked out of a Southwestern Athletic Conference Media Day event after a reporter dared to address him as “Deion”:
Talking season apparently abruptly ended at SWAC Media Days as Jackson State coach Deion Sanders walks out of SWAC Media Day event after being called 'Deion'. https://t.co/IuqLKAlr3o
— Pat Smith (@patsmithradio) July 20, 2021
Sanders said to the reporter, “You don’t call Nick Saban, ‘Nick.’ Don’t call me Deion.” The reporter then called him “Deion” again and he walked out:
“You don’t call Nick Saban, ‘Nick,” Sanders said, before calling Nick Saban ‘Nick’ … pic.twitter.com/WuuaPTDWYj
— Mike DeFabo (@MikeDeFabo) July 20, 2021
Watch for yourself:
— UConn Has A Football Team (@UConnHasAFBTeam) July 21, 2021
Would he prefer “Primetime” or “Neon”?
but i agree, deion sanders should be addressed either by his alternate title "primetime" or with the honorific "neon"
— Matthew Zeitlin (@MattZeitlin) July 21, 2021
Anyway, multiple journos are calling out Sanders for his behavior as they’ve called Nick Saban, “Nick,” numerous times without incident:
JSU coach Deion Sanders walks out of SWAC media day after being addressed as Deion.
"If you call Nick (Saban), Nick, you'll get cussed out on the spot, so don't do that to me"
I covered Saban for 6 years. He was called Nick many times. He never said a wordhttps://t.co/nwrRIoRzTx— Chase Goodbread (@ChaseGoodbread) July 20, 2021
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I covered Nick Saban and I called him Nick. Covered Tom Izzo. Called him Tom. Pretty much every coach I’ve covered, I addressed them by their first name. https://t.co/tMRGYZ2GM1
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) July 20, 2021
I covered MLB for 16 years and trust me when I say you don't call a grown man coach if you don't play for him.
Sorry, Deion. You've got a name like everyone else. And if you can't order me to run wind sprints, I'm going to use it.
— Spencer Fordin (@SpencerFordin) July 21, 2021
It’s pretty common to refer to coaches by their first names:
I love Deion Sanders but as a black UGA fan I can confirm Kirby Smart is called Kirby (his name) every single press conference😂
EVERY SINGLE ONE.
Here’s the first question from today:“Hey, Kirby…..” pic.twitter.com/Qa5dQYDV5C
— Trust Me (@howwetalking) July 20, 2021
Sorry, Deion. It’s “Deion” from now on:
His mama named him Deion. So I’ma call him Deion. https://t.co/iac5eNy3a6
— Gabe McDonald (@GabeMcDonald_) July 20, 2021
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