Deion Sanders' grand vision came to life in Soul Bowl from sell-out crowd to Young Dolph tribute
Deion Sanders couldn't quite describe how it felt to play in front of the first sell-out crowd of his Jackson State coaching career.
It was a spectacle that had it all. The Jackson State defense had a dominant performance, holding Alcorn to a touchdown and field goal in a 24-10 win Saturday. Shedeur Sanders stepped up without his top wide receiver target Malachi Wideman, who missed the game.
A $1 million check was presented to the school at halftime. The Sonic Boom of the South marching band spelled out "Boosie" on the field for rapper Boosie Badazz who attended the game, took a picture with JSU president Thomas Hudson, and announced he plans to enroll at Jackson State next semester.
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But the moment that blew Sanders' mind was when the crowd started doing the wave.
"Unbelievable. 58,000 of our people," Sanders said. "That feeling is unexplainable. You have to feel it, you have to understand that 58,000 of our people unified when they did the wave it just blew my mind because we were unified then and working together."
It was the kind of moment that Sanders envisioned when he took the job in the first place. But he doesn't want to limit that success to just Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.
"I don't just visualize it at home. I visualize it everywhere that we go ..." Sanders said. "So we can go to Memphis and pack the house but we can't go to ULM which is, what, an hour and a half away? That don't make sense to me, who do that? So we need a party or a classic to go to the games? It shouldn't be like that."
He takes pride in creating these moments. And Shedeur Sanders, his star freshman quarterback and son, feeds off of them.
"The fans help us also because we get energy from them," said Shedeur Sanders, who finished with 297 yards passing and three touchdowns. "And like when you got a game that's really dead, it really affects us in a way."
As the postgame news conference was about to end, Deion Sanders made sure the media cameras took time to capture what was on Shedeur's feet, a pair of Young Dolph-themed cleats that were meant to honor the late rapper who was fatally shot at a cookie shop in Memphis earlier this week.
Deion Sanders explained that Dolph was one of Shedeur's "dearest friends," and Shedeur talked about his connection with the late rapper.
"He's one of the realest people I know," Shedeur Sanders said. "It's just a different relationship, and somebody told me on the sidelines 'Do it for Dolph' and when I heard that it went crazy and we scored."
The feeling of victory made Deion Sanders feel "ecstatic," but he also expressed that he wants the city of Jackson to enjoy the win without any violence following. He said that his message to the team after the game was to be safe.
"My prayer and my dream is just that we don’t leave this moment and go and do something crazy and someone lose their life over this nonsense," Sanders said. "That’s my dream, that’s my vision. Everybody profited this weekend, I think all the shopping centers, the hotels, the restaurants, everyone profited this weekend so everybody should be happy, the streets, the hood, the gangbangers, everybody profited man."
All in all, the Soul Bowl was a show that was deeper than just a football game. The Sonic Boom worked its magic. Shedeur Sanders delivered an inspired performance. It was a scene so epic that Boosie decided to reveal his big secret.
And it's one that shouldn't take us for surprise, Deion Sanders said.
"I think we opened a lot of eyes," Sanders said. "We opened a lot of doors We’re not going to say we surprised some people because we’ve came in saying we believe."