Deion Sanders insists on being called a “coach”

Deion Sanders really, really wants you to call him “coach”.

The Jackson State coach and NFL Hall of Fame member sadly left SWAC media day in July after a reporter failed to call him a “coach.” Sanders didn’t like the reporter calling him by name instead of his job title and demanded the reporter call him “coach.” When the reporter declined, Sanders ended the interview.

Sanders was on ESPN’s “First Take” on Friday and tried to explain why he wanted to be called a “coach”. He claimed being called by title was a matter of respect and – yes, we’re serious here – likened that to calling a doctor by title.

“My doctors are ‘Dr. So-and-so, ”nurses are“ so-and-so nurse, ”our teachers are Missus and Mister,” Sanders said.

We don’t need to tell you that a doctor goes to medical school to get that title when a nurse has to have her nursing degree. A title obtained through education is a different title than what is given to you because of the etiquette of your work. You don’t walk around your office addressing your coworkers by their job titles, do you?

Sanders also contradicts his own point of view with comparing teachers anyway. The Mr., Mrs., and Mrs. titles aren’t teacher-specific titles – something Sanders even pointed out earlier in the video above when he notes that the parents of the children he grew up with were addressed with. these titles. And besides, these titles were reserved for children who spoke to adults. Not two adults addressing each other.

Incredibly enough, Sanders went on to say that the reporter calling him by his own name was an attempt to “put him down”.

“Calling someone by name to try and play down what I’ve accomplished and what I’ve worked for is just not right and I wasn’t going to put up with it,” Sanders said.

To be clear, this was not an attempt to demean him. No one outside of the Jackson State football team has an obligation to call Sanders “coach.” Sanders probably knows that. Relations between coaches and the media can sometimes be power struggles. Sanders does a clumsy takeover by insisting on being called a “coach.”

This clumsiness can however pay off. Since arriving at Jackson State, Sanders has focused on raising the profile of historically black colleges and universities that play football. And attention can be captured in many ways. Sanders knows that too. And talking about his desire to be approached in a certain way is better than not talking about Jackson State or SWAC at all.