Deion Sanders says Jackson State will be on lockdown in Houston after rapper Takeoff was killed

Deion Sanders plans to incarcerate his Jackson State football players in Houston this weekend after the murder of rapper Takeoff, who was murdered early Tuesday morning in Texas’ largest city.

Jackson State (8-0, 5-0 in the SWAC) is scheduled to face Texas Southern (4-4, 3-2) in Houston on Saturday, but as the NFL legend told his players on Tuesday, they must stay in the team hotel.

“Takeoff was killed in a dice game in Houston — where we’re going,” Sanders told his players on Tuesday, according to a YouTube clip. “So that eliminates all of you from leaving the hotel, because it won’t happen until I give you further notice. Whatever her name is, whoever she is, parents and everyone, they come to the hotel to visit you. Because you’re not leaving.

“Sooner or later we’re going to have to change our addresses, guys,” Sanders said. “That’s an analogy that says, ‘I know we are this, but we’re not.’ We have to leave behind what we once did and that is what you are. Now you are the royal family of Jackson State. You are 8-0. You’re not who you were a year ago.’

Houston police said the 28-year-old member of the Grammy-nominated trio Migos was killed around 2:30 a.m. An altercation had broken out between a group of 40 people leaving a party at a downtown bowling alley, police said.

Sanders asked his team to pray for the families, adding that he is tired of people “who affect you (who) consistently leave us.”

Houston police said Takeoff, a 28-year-old member of the Grammy-nominated trio Migos, was killed around 2:30 a.m. An altercation had broken out between a group of 40 people leaving a party at a downtown bowling alley, police said

Jackson State is coming off a 35-0 win over Southern on Saturday for the school’s best start in 40 years.

The son of ‘Prime Time’ Deion Sanders, now known as Jackson State’s Coach Prime and the reason College GameDay was in town, ran for two scores and pitched for another to lead the Tigers to a weather-delayed win .

After a scoreless first quarter, Shedeur Sanders took control in the second quarter with three scores for the Tigers (8-0, 5-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference). He tied with Sy’veon Wilkerson for a 3-yard touchdown to complete an 18-play, 80-yard drive. Then, Sanders ran the last 42 yards of a quick three-play 71-yard drive and three seconds before halftime, Sanders scored on a 12-yard burst and added a two-point conversion pass.

Wilkerson scored on a 26-yard run for the lone score in the third quarter and then the game was delayed by more than an hour due to weather.

Southern (5-3, 3-2) was held at 221 yards with two turnovers.

It’s only the fourth time since 2005 that College GameDay featured an HBCU matchup.

JSU’s Deion Coach Prime Sanders talks to celebrity Snoop Dog ahead of the start of the Jackson State Tigers and Campbell Fighting Camels NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision game

Sanders says black football programs can traditionally be a pathway to the NFL for top recruits, but it’s hard to compete with the wealthier, traditional power schools.

‘With our attendance, children feel that you have an option. I’m still getting through (an HBCU) and they can navigate me to the NFL,” the AP told the AP last month. “I don’t have to go to any of the PWIs (mainly white institutions) to make it to the NFL.”

He spoke with The AP during a break during his visit to Mississippi Children’s Hospital in Jackson, where he also represented the insurance company Aflac.

HBCUs, like Jackson State and its SWAC rivals, have been a goldmine of top talent for decades, largely because of segregation.

Even when Southeastern Conference schools were integrated in the late 1960s and 1970s, many talented black players ended up playing at HBCUs.

Jackson State quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) sprints 42 yards to a first-half touchdown against Southern during an NCAA college football game in Jackson, Miss., Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

There are 33 players from HBCUs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but many of the biggest stars such as Willie Lanier (Morgan State) and Walter Payton (Jackson State) played in the ’60s and ’70s.

The number of NFL players produced by HBCUs has declined since the 1990s, but there are signs that it is on the rise again as scouts pay more attention to those schools.

Sanders said he was able to bring in two of the most sought-after football recruits in the country (five-star defender Travis Hunter and four-star receiver Kevin Coleman) this year because they saw an opportunity to grow into NFL players through Coach Prime and his staff.

“So now it becomes an option,” Sanders said. ‘But it’s not really a balanced option because of the facilities, because of the housing. Because of all the aesthetics in HBCUs. We are underfunded and overlooked. So it’s not the same.’

“So convincing a man to leave the hood to go to the hood is pretty hard.”