Comments made by Alabama coach Nick Saban regarding the NIL deals of players at Texas A&M and Jackson State have generated immense buzz around the college football world. Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher had a fiery response. Initially, Jackson State coach Deion Sanders promised a reply of his own to what he called a lie from Saban. Now, he has another idea.
Sanders decided not to talk on the issue. Instead, he issued a challenge to Saban to settle it on the field. Saban’s Alabama team against Sanders’ Jackson State team.
Oh Prime want all the smoke pic.twitter.com/nzLomAKyJ9
— Pels 12 vs Errbody (@petty_murphy318) May 19, 2022
Saban hasn’t exactly generated a lot of sympathy for his comments, to a point where even he did some backtracking from them. Nevertheless, college football fans were mostly unsure if Sanders challenging the perennial powerhouse in Alabama was a good idea.
I respect this, but you do not want this https://t.co/P51r8cO7ac
— Braxton (@brax10al4d) May 19, 2022
Coach prime drunk asf 😂😂😂😂 https://t.co/MlS442wSHv
— Persistence 🥋⚠… (@Fred_Plugdn) May 19, 2022
Alabama opens as a 31.5 point favorite against Jackson state on senior day via @BetMGM https://t.co/60AK4hQVny
— Escobar… (@____LilMexico) May 19, 2022
JSU not built in the trenches right now for bama they couldn’t even block south carolina state https://t.co/gs2P1dh4Or
— don don. (@DonavanH7) May 19, 2022
Nah prime this ain’t it. https://t.co/az03Hc9xqk
— B. (@IM2STR8) May 19, 2022
is he sure???????? https://t.co/eFSw4hhnUE
— silk press queen. 💁🏾♀️ (@uhleeseeyuh) May 19, 2022
Though, there would be some benefits for Sanders and the Tigers.
Deion just wants that check ..losing by 80 wouldn’t matter lol https://t.co/paXDqhMqYo
— Dr. Erin Wilson (@ErinV1985) May 19, 2022
Money move by prime. He know what he doin. https://t.co/hah1kp1xAb
— whats yo real name? slater 🖤 (@foreverLboog) May 19, 2022
Deion said I need this TV Deal and buy game package >> https://t.co/eM2b2wd9Nu
— trevor trout (@totaltroutmove) May 19, 2022
Jackson State would certainly receive a nice payout from the kind of game. So, that is a positive.
From an on-field perspective, this is probably not Sanders’ best idea. While the Tigers had a great season in 2021, they did lose two games against FCS (FKA Division Division I-AA) teams. Going against a powerhouse Alabama program would likely not yield pretty results.
But if Sanders is really serious about this challenge, there’s a good chance that it can happen. From his decades of coaching, we can safely say two things about Saban. One, he knows how to win. Two, he loves scheduling Division I-AA opponents.
