It's a shame Deion Sanders doesn't care about Jackson State's rivalry with TSU | Giannotto

The son had more tact than the father.

Shedeur Sanders at least tried to talk around how little Jackson State’s football history and its biggest nonconference rival mattered to him. He didn’t want to just outright say how little traditions built over decades, traditions that turned an annual game into a cultural experience, mattered to his school anymore.

But then Deion Sanders cut him off during the postgame press conference.

“We don’t care,” he announced.

Perhaps it’s better that Sanders isn’t shying away from how he really feels. Perhaps that’s how this version of the Southern Heritage Classic will end. With Coach Prime kicking dirt on the pageantry Memphis has played host to for 33 years. With Southern Heritage Classic founder Fred Jones, Jr. standing in the back of the room, no less.

Jackson State’s 16-3 win over Tennessee State on Saturday night very well could be the last time these teams face in Memphis. That would be disappointing, especially since it all seems to revolve around money. The money Jackson State thinks it should be getting from the Southern Heritage Classic now that Sanders is coaching, and the money Sanders believes he was hired to generate.

That’s the refrain he keeps returning to, and it remains a reasonable explanation for his stance.

“We just got here. I just arrived here,” Sanders said when asked to explain his “we don’t care” comment, and whether he’s interested in continuing to play Tennessee State, be it in Memphis or elsewhere.

“What I’m saying is we’ve got to do better business. That’s what I was talking about,” he continued. “So whether we do it in Jackson, or in Tennessee, I’m good. I’m good. If we get the business right, we can do it here. But I’m for the business of making sure these kids are straight, not coming up here and having to borrow some gas money on the way back. That’s what this is about, so I’m looking for the interest of our kids. So as far as the rivalry, all of us just got here. … We don’t know nothing about that.”

Is it too much to ask that he at least know something about that?

HALFTIME SHOW: TSU's Aristocrat of Bands salutes Memphis, Young Dolph at Southern Heritage Classic

TAILGATE: How Jackson State football fans are bracing for the change coming to Southern Heritage Classic

These teams have played one another 55 times since 1949. They’ve turned the Southern Heritage Classic into one of the premier HBCU showcases. There were 51,351 fans there Saturday night. It’ll likely be the biggest crowd at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium the entire fall.

FedEx makes $1 million donations to each school as part of the event. There is a career fair for college students. This year, there was an event to help Black men better address their mental health and a fashion show to empower Black women.

There’s the parade through Orange Mound on Saturday morning that’s a highlight for one of the most historic neighborhoods in the country. There’s the battle of the bands for local high schools. There’s the battle of the bands for Jackson State’s Sonic Boom of the South and Tennessee State’s Aristocrat of Bands.

And, of course, there’s the tailgate.

It’s hard to believe there’s a better party in Memphis than what happens in the parking lots surrounding the stadium during the days and hours leading up to the actual game. It’s among the best scenes in all of college football.

Marrio Thomas, a TSU fan who took in the spectacle, surveyed his setup this year and marveled at how it had grown. What started as a few chairs, and a folding table, and some music with his brothers had transformed into multiple tents, giant speakers, flat screen televisions, futons to sit on, and tables full of barbeque, fish, spaghetti and more sides than could possibly fit on one plate.

The two tents, by the way, were filled with family and friends, an almost even split between Tennessee State and Jackson State fans.

“It’s TSU and JSU working together because it’s important, so it’s a big disappointment Jackson State isn’t playing anymore,” Thomas said. “But we’ll be back. It’s too much fun.”

It’s a shame Sanders doesn’t want to be bothered with any of that.

He really seems to be building a monster of a program on the field. That Tennessee State kept it as close as it did, staying within one score until the final minutes of the fourth quarter, is a credit to the progress being made by Eddie George.

It’s just Jackson State isn’t constructed like a normal HBCU team, and that was still true without top recruit Travis Hunter playing Saturday.

“This was the hottest team and everyone’s talking about (them),” George said.

Maybe a lawsuit can talk them into coming back.

Maybe all that money Jackson State could owe the Southern Heritage Classic if it doesn’t fulfill its contract, which runs through 2024, will outweigh all the money Sanders is after for his program.

Maybe then he might realize he should care.

You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter: @mgiannotto

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: It's a shame Deion Sanders doesn't care about Jackson State-TSU rivalry