Previous Jackson State coach Deion Sanders tweeted Saturday that he is “embarrassed” of 31 NFL groups after Isaiah Bolden was the only HBCU gamer prepared this year.
Bolden, a cornerback and returner for Jackson State, was chosen by the New England Patriots in the seventh round (245th total) on Saturday.
Sanders, now the coach at Colorado, required to Twitter to praise his previous gamer and to advise the NFL for handing down other HBCU gamers.
So happy is you @isaiahbolden23 You was worthy of to be prepared much greater however I’m really pleased with u. I understand just how much u desire this. I repent of the 31 other @nfl groups that could not discover draft worth in ALL of the skilled HBCU gamers & & we had 3 more draft deserving gamers at JSU. pic.twitter.com/BfEm3zIGPH
— COACH PRIME (@DeionSanders) April 30, 2023
” So happy is you @isaiahbolden23 You was worthy of to be prepared much greater however I’m really pleased with u,” he composed “I understand just how much u desire this. I repent of the 31 other @nfl groups that could not discover draft worth in ALL of the skilled HBCU gamers & & we had 3 more draft deserving gamers at JSU.”
4 HBCU gamers were chosen in in 2015’s NFL draft.
Bolden, who has one year of beginning experience at cornerback and led the FCS in kick return average in 2021 with a 36.9-yard average, followed through on his objective of shining a spotlight on HBCU gamers.
Bolden is the 2nd Jackson State gamer who played under Sanders to be prepared. The other was linebacker James Houston, who was chosen by the Detroit Lions in the 6th round in 2015 and went on to end up being simply the 3rd gamer– because sacks ended up being a main fact in 1982– to tape a minimum of one sack in each of his very first 4 profession video games ( Terrell Suggs and Santana Dotson were the others).
With Houston and Bolden, Jackson State had actually a gamer prepared in successive years for the very first time because 1997 and ’98.
The NFL began an integrate for HBCU gamers in 2020, although the very first year it was held was 2021 since of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, 47 gamers participated in the occasion, which was gone to by all 32 groups. This year, the integrate was hosted by the HBCU Tradition Bowl, a postseason all-star video game to display HBCU gamers.
ESPN’s Mike Reiss added to this report.