Florida A&M picked to win SWAC East after rap video controversy - ESPN

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Jackson State is no longer the Southwestern Athletic Conference front-runner. And Florida A&M has something to talk about other than a locker room rap video.

Coaches and sports information directors picked Florida A&M to win the East Division in voting released Tuesday at SWAC media day in Birmingham, Alabama. Jackson State and then-coach Deion Sanders have been the dominant team the past two years.

The favored status came a few days after Florida A&M had banned its players from the team's facilities after a rap video featuring some players was shot in the locker room without proper permission.

Florida A&M athletic director Tiffani-Dawn Sykes allowed the team to resume all activities starting Tuesday, coinciding with media day. She will not comment on the incident until the university's investigation is complete.

Coach Willie Simmons addressed it with his team on Monday.

«They're resilient. We've seen our fair share of adversity and this won't be our last one,» Simmons said Tuesday. «We talk to our guys all the time about how we respond to the challenges that we face. But for us it's about growing as a football team.

»Part of our job as coaches is just to lead and to teach and every moment is an opportunity to teach, and that's what we look at this moment as."

The rapper in the video is Real Boston Richey, who is from Tallahassee, where Florida A&M's campus is located. Richey, whose real name is Jalen Foster, performed at Florida A&M's homecoming game last season.

SWAC Commissioner Charles McLelland said he talked to Sykes about the situation on Sunday and that the school has handled it «magnificently.»

«Any time you suspend football activities, it is a concern with the conference office,» McLelland