WATCH: Deion Sanders Gives Emotional Speech To Players After Prohibiting Team From Leaving Houston Hotel Following Rapper’s Death

Jackson State’s head coach Deion Sanders told his players they were not allowed to leave the team hotel in Houston, Texas, for Saturday’s game against Texas Southern, after the death of Migos rapper, Takeoff. The rapper was shot and killed Tuesday morning at a Houston bowling alley.

Sanders, who was part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame class in 2011, addressed his team before their matchup against Texas Southern and told his players they would not be allowed to leave the team hotel out of an abundance of caution.

“I don’t know how true it is, I hope it’s not true, but Takeoff was murdered in a dice game in Houston,” Sanders said. “Where we’re going, so that eliminates all of y’all leaving that hotel, ’cause it ain’t happening until I give you fucking notice. Whatever her name is, whoever she is, parents, everybody, they gon come to the hotel to visit you because y’all ain’t leaving. Because I can’t lose one of y’all.”

Sanders began an emotional speech to his young players to look at Takeoff’s death as an example to move on from negative influences.

“There’s no way a man that has made it in life, has reached his pinnacle of the rap game, well known around the world, is still playing dice in an inner city,” Sanders added.

Sanders pivoted and told his players they needed to change how they lived.

“Sooner or later, we have to start changing our addresses,” Sanders continued. “That’s an analogy to saying I know we this, but we ain’t that. We got to leave that behind like we once did, and that’s what you guys are. You guys are Jackson State royalty; you ain’t know that. You’re not whoever you were a year ago. You’re not even who you gon’ be a year from now, which is a blessing. But you can’t continuously do things you’ve always done and expect to get the results. There’s gon’ have to be a change.”

Sanders pointed around the room at his coaches and added they still have changed as adults.

“All of us are going through drastic changes, have we, coaches?” Sanders said as he pointed around the room. “All of us is still evolving into what God has called us to be, and that’s change. You cannot kick it with the same dudes you kicked it with. You cannot kick it with the multitude of women you were kicking with. You cannot associate in the same rooms you associated with. You gonna have to change if you expect change.”

Sanders told his players it would be tough to end relationships with people, but it would benefit them in the long run.

“They can talk about you, they can mock you, they can ridicule you, they can cuss you out, they can clown you, whatever they want,” Sanders added. “But you’re going to have to separate sooner or later. You gon have to disconnect. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to.”

Watch above via Thee Pregame Show.

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