Deion Sanders Revisits James Houston’s Relentless Motor During Colorado Practice
Deion Sanders hasn’t coached James Houston in four years. He still brings him up like it was yesterday.
During a recent Colorado practice, Sanders turned to one of his assistants and asked a simple question: who do you know that’s actually on an NFL roster right now, not just trying out for one? When the coach mentioned Houston, Sanders didn’t need much prompting. He wanted to talk about effort — specifically, what Houston did on every single snap at Jackson State.
The exchange, posted on Instagram, has Sanders and his staff going back and forth about Houston’s habit of getting to the quarterback on “every play,” according to the coach standing next to him. It’s the kind of praise Sanders doesn’t hand out loosely, and it says something that a player who left his program in 2022 is still the example he reaches for.
From Florida Transfer to SWAC Standout
Houston didn’t start his career at Jackson State. He transferred in from Florida ahead of the 2021 season, right as Sanders was building his first roster in Jackson, Mississippi. It didn’t take long for Houston to become the most disruptive defender in the SWAC. He closed that season with 70 tackles, 24.5 tackles for loss, 16.5 sacks and seven forced fumbles, and he found the end zone twice himself — once off an interception, once off a scooped fumble.
That production earned him First-Team All-SWAC honors and helped push Jackson State to a conference title and a trip to the Cricket Celebration Bowl. NFL teams noticed. The Detroit Lions took him in the sixth round of the 2022 draft, 217th overall.
| Season | Team | Tackles | Sacks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 (Jackson State) | College | 70 | 16.5 |
| 2022 (rookie) | Detroit Lions | — | 8.0 (7 games) |
| 2025 | Dallas Cowboys | 35 | 5.5 |
A Rotational Role, But Real Production in Dallas
Houston’s path after Detroit wasn’t smooth. He bounced through three seasons with the Lions and a brief stop in Cleveland before landing with the Dallas Cowboys. He’s never cracked the starting lineup there, but he’s made his rotational snaps count. In 2025, he played all 17 games and finished with 35 tackles, 5.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery — a sack total that actually tied him with veteran Jadeveon Clowney for the team lead, per CBS Sports.
That kind of production from a rotational piece is part of why the Cowboys’ pass rush leaned on him early in the season, especially after the team traded Micah Parsons before Week 1.
The HBCU Honor Behind the Praise
Sanders’ comments land differently given what Houston earned earlier this year. In June, he was named the NFLPA’s 2026 Black College Football Pro Player of the Year, becoming the 10th HBCU alum to receive the award at the Black College Football Hall of Fame’s induction weekend in Atlanta. The honor came with a $5,000 donation to Jackson State’s football program from the NFLPA’s Social Justice Task Force.
“My time at Jackson State made me into the man and player I am today,” Houston said in a statement released by the Cowboys.
It’s the kind of full-circle recognition Sanders’ program was built to produce — a player who left Jackson State as a mid-round pick and is now getting saluted for both his college tape and his current NFL role, four years and two teams later.
