A.J McCarron should know, "Don't take sides with anyone against the family. Ever."
The former Alabama quarterback did just that when he went on The Jim Rome Show during Super Bowl week and said the 2013 Crimson Tide team included some players that didn't have everyone buy into the system, which led to the team's inability to win a third consecutive national championship.
That statement caught the attention of the Tide Godfather himself, Nick Saban.
Saban took time out from his National Signing Day news conference to refute McCarron's claims.
"I don't think it was an issue on the field because none of those guys were out there playing," Saban said Wednesday, as reported by Al.com. "I think if it was an issue out there for any of our players who were playing, they need to check their maturity level because the guys that were out there playing did not have that issue."
McCarron told Rome that the combination of the team being fat and happy with two straight national championships combined with some younger players who felt they deserved more playing time based on their recruiting ratings coming out of high school led to 'Bama's demise in 2013.
"Too much success and a lot of young guys coming in who didn't know what it took to get back to that point to win," McCarron said. "They thought we'd just show up and we'd win.
"I think that's one of the things that is wrong with recruiting out of high school. You have guys who have never played the game of football rating these guys that they are a five-star because they're sitting behind a computer screen watching their highlight film. Well, their highlight film is supposed to be good the last time I checked. That's the kind of thing that ticks me off about recruiting and when these kids come in and they're five-stars and they expect to play right off the bat. It's a little entitlement and when they don't play off the bat, they get a little ticked off and they don't want to work."
Saban quipped, however, that McCarron once was one of those young kids who had a little entitlement in his blood.
"When they were freshmen they had the same issues," Saban said, not specifically referring to Alabama's 2013 team captains. "I remember when AJ came up in my office all upset because he was the third-string quarterback after the first scrimmage. So, you know, sometimes we forget what it's like to be a teenager."
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.