Deion Sanders berates reporter for calling him “Deion” and walks away

Jackson State football coach Deion Sanders berated a local “Prime Time” reporter for calling him “Deion” on Tuesday during a press briefing. (See the video below.)

Sanders, a professional Football Hall of Fame member and former MLB star, was answering video questions for a Southwestern Athletic Conference media event when Clarion-Ledger writer Nick Suss addressed the second year coach by first name.

“Take a step back. You don’t call Nick Saban “Nick,” Sanders said, referring to Alabama coach Nick Saban. “Don’t call me Deion.

“I call Nick Saban ‘Nick’,” replied Suss.

“No, you don’t. No, you don’t. That’s a lie, ”Sanders replied. “If you call Nick ‘Nick’ you are immediately insulted. So don’t do that and treat me like Nick.

Sanders appeared to smile and laugh after delivering the reprimand.

But when Suss repeated “Deion,” Sanders stood up and walked away.

USA Today’s For the Win provided an example of Saban called “Nick” without him objecting to it.

Sanders’ nickname was “Prime Time” when he was playing and he introduces himself as “Prime Coach” on his Twitter.

Sanders later wrote on Twitter that he thought Suss was trying to be “cute to address me like he did, so I dropped the call and went to the next outlet.”

Suss said he had previously called Sanders by his first name without a problem, The New York Post reported.