Coach Prime and Gillette have released a limited-edition razor, and Gillette will donate up to $100,000 to the JSU Tiger Fund Athletic Foundation.
Relationships are everything to Jackson State head coach Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders. His relationships have brought HBCUs more exposure, his athletes more NIL deals and his school more money. One of Sanders’ ties is with Gillette, and the pair have teamed up to release a limited-edition razor based on his personal mantra “look good, feel good.”
The saying originally comes from Sanders’ famous quote “if you look good, you feel good, if you feel good, you play good. If you play good, they play good.” As part of the razor’s release, Gillette is making a $50,000 donation to the JSU Tiger Fund Athletic Foundation — an organization that supports the student-athletes at JSU. For every entry into the raffle, Gillette will donate an additional $1 to the Tiger Fund, up to $50,000. That makes for a potential total donation of $100,000.
“Gillette is not just an ordinary sponsor or endorser,” Sanders said in an interview. “The thing that I love the most is Gillette being understanding enough to care what I care about, which is HBCUs, it helps tremendously.”
Sanders’ razor features a metallic gold colored handle that includes his logo and signature number 21. The box features Prime’s “look good, feel good,” quote on the box.
Before Sanders and Gillette became partners, Gillette sponsored the HBCU Esports Alliance’s Madden Tournament earlier this year. Students competed in Madden’s “The Yard” mode that featured the Gillette Style Zone where players could customize their avatar’s hairstyle, facial hair and equipment. The event included product giveaways, give-back donations and even provided free haircuts through partnering with campus barber shops.
For Sanders, his presence at Jackson State is all about exposure.
“We’re elated to receive this type of attention and resources we are receiving as a whole,” Prime said.
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Several Jackson State players have already signed NIL deals. Defensive end Antwan Owens signed a deal with Three Kings Grooming, a black owned hair product shop, and Sanders’ son Shedeur became Beats by Dre’s youngest promoter. WorkForce Software, a provider of enterprise SaaS-based workforce management solutions, sponsors the entire offensive and defensive lines at Jackson State.
Sanders will take Jackson State to Atlanta next weekend to compete in the Celebration Bowl against the South Carolina State University Bulldogs. SCSU produced one of the NFL’s best linebackers in 2018, Darius Leonard, who won the 2018 NFL defensive rookie of the year and became the NFL’s highest-paid linebacker in August when he signed a five-year, $99 million contract with $52.5 million guaranteed. The Bulldogs come into the game at 6-5, whereas Jackson State sits at 11-1.
It will be both teams’ first appearance in the Celebration Bowl, the HBCU national championship game that was established in 2015. The game will be broadcasted on ABC at noon on Dec. 18.
