Junior defensive back Sam Burnthall is no longer a member of the University of Alabama football team.

'Sam Burnthall has left the team for personal reasons,' head coach Nick Saban said Wednesday. 'We have granted him his release and we wish him the best.'

No real surprises here, honestly. Burnthall was a pretty lowly-recruited prospect, and he really wasn't getting any playing time even while we were struggling under Shula or in Saban's first year. At this point, even the possibility of legitimate playing time was a foregone conclusion, and I imagine that is what is motivating this move.

Either way, it's room for one more player we can sign in the 2009 recruiting class.

ed.- This is way old news (from before the start of the season), so I'm not sure why it was on the front page of TideSports.com (and still is at the moment). Anyway, oops.