By Brandon Simmons
Jackson State University head football coach Deion Sanders has always demanded – and received – his respect at every level of his career, but Tuesday he was not feeling the reception at his press conference. According to Bleacher Report, Sanders walked out of his SWAC Media Day presser when a reporter called him by his first name twice. As reported by Langston Newsome of the Mississippi Clarion Ledger, Sanders told the reporter he would not be pulling this move on another well-known coach.
“You don’t call Nick Saban, ‘Nick.’ Don’t call me Deion,” said Sanders.
“If you call Nick (Saban), Nick, you’ll get cussed out on the spot, so don’t do that to me,” the coach added. “Treat me like Nick.”
If anything, Sanders could be half right because it won’t be Saban to cuss you out but some of his supporters might take issue. Last December, a reporter addressed the head coach Alabama football as “Saban”, which then prompted a a critique from WVTM Rick Karle.
As you can see, all these coaches have their own way of doing these press conferences and Sanders is no different. For some coaches, calling them “Coach This” or “Coach That” could just be a matter of maintaining some professionalism between themselves and members of the media; the same can be done when just referring to them as “Coach”. In Sanders’ case, he’ doing nothing more than commandeering the same courtesy be extended to him, as you would a Nick Saban, or any coach he feels get that same treatment. Walking out of a press conference isn’t too dramatic, especially if you feel that you are not being respected in that moment. The worst thing he could have done was stayed and got into a heated exchange with the reporter. However, as a leader of young men, he walked away and maintained his cool in this ordeal, which you have to respect, no matter what you call him.
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