Former Cowboys CB Deion Sanders called out by Alabama’s Nick Saban over NIL deal

The Hall of Famer denies accusations that his Jackson State program paid their top recruit, and he vows to respond soon to Saban’s remarks. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Former Cowboys cornerback Deion Sanders and Alabama football coach Nick Saban appear together in TV commercials where they play up Prime Time’s penchant for expensive bling.

But things are getting nasty between the two in real life over accusations of offering a big payday to an elite college athlete.

Saban stirred up a hornet’s nest recently when he railed against what he sees as widespread misuse of the Name, Image, and Likeness deals that are becoming an increasingly larger part of college football. He specifically called out Texas A&M, claiming the school “bought every player on their team. (Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher went scorched-earth on Saban with comments made Thursday, retorting, “Some people think they’re God. Go dig into how God did his deal.”)

But Saban also named tiny Jackson State in his remarks. The Mississippi HBCU has made national headlines ever since Sanders took the football reins in 2020. Taking over a team that went 4-8 just a year prior, Sanders coached the Tigers to a program-best 11 wins by the fall of 2021 and was honored with the Eddie Robinson Award as the season’s top FCS coach.

The Hall of Famer and two-time Super Bowl champ also fired a shot across the bow of the Power 5 schools in December when Jackson State secured the number one recruit in the country, improbably stealing the commitment of defensive back Travis Hunter Jr. away from Sanders’s own alma mater of Florida State and other powerhouse programs.

Saban is crying foul.

“Jackson State paid a guy a million dollars last year that was a really good Division I player to come to the school,” he said. “It was in the paper, and they bragged about it. Nobody did anything about it.”

Saban offered no further proof of his claim when he made his comments.

For his part, Sanders denied those same rumors in December, explaining, “We didn’t pay. We ain’t got no money!”

Always one of the league’s most outspoken trash-talkers and never one to shy away from an opponent who shoots off his mouth, the six-time All-Pro is now gearing up for a direct response to this latest accusation from the head man at the most visible college football program in the country.

“You best believe I will address that LIE Coach SABAN told tomorrow,” Sanders tweeted in the wee hours Thursday morning. “We as a PEOPLE don’t have to pay our PEOPLE to play with our PEOPLE.”

And he promised more.

The NIL debate isn’t going away anytime soon. And now one of the Cowboys’ most recognizable icons is right in the middle of it, in a high-profile spat with his insurance ad co-star.

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