Happy Monday, everyone. It was a fine weekend for the spring sports, as both men’s and women’s tennis notched victories, softball won all five of their games, and Tide swimmers won a bunch as well. All is quiet in the college football world, but Cecil’s recap of the recruiting season is outstanding.
Central Florida’s recruiting class was ranked No. 56 in the country but if the Colley Matrix somehow ranks them No. 1, it will be parade time in Orlando again.
For instance, no matter how many future NFL players Alabama signs in a year, there is always someone the Crimson Tide didn’t get. Combine that with the general post-Clemson angst, and even a No. 1 class comes with a few grumbles. Georgia fans are probably more excited the Bulldogs were No. 1 in one poll, because February is historically a better month in Athens than January.
Cecil is out here throwing shade all over the place.
The AAF kicked off this weekend, and the decidedly Crimson tinted Birmingham Iron won behind Trent Richardson.
The offense definitely had a Crimson Tide look with Richardson in the backfield and four ex-Alabama players on the offensive line — J.C. Hassenauer (center), Korren Kirven(guard), Dominick Jackson (tackle) and Brandon Greene (tackle).
Xzavier Dickson is another former Crimson Tide player on the Iron roster and he made his presence known in the fourth quarter with a nifty, one-handed interception grab with under four minutes to play.
Josh Frazier (defensive tackle) and Bradley Sylve (defensive back) are also on the roster as well as Cole Mazza (long snapper).
“I never actually got the chance to play for myself and play for my kids,” Richardson said Sunday. “I always had a lot of stuff on my shoulders and I had a lot I was running for. So, now, I’m just back to a place where it’s just fun. It’s fun, man. I can actually just play for myself and play for my small family. My kids and my fiancé. That’s it. That’s all I need to do. Right there, I have my kids depending on me because they look up to me.
“They think I’m Superman.”
Good for Trent. It has to be hard to listen to everyone under the sun calling you one of the worst busts in NFL history. More importantly, Alabama players showed out in the big league this season.
During the 2018 season, 54 Alabama alumni appeared on the active rosters of NFL teams.
The former Crimson Tide standouts included 15 players who made their NFL debuts this season, including three who earned spots on the Pro Football Writers of America’s All-Rookie team.
Five of the ex-Alabama players earned Pro Bowl invitations and one -- Chicago Bears safety Eddie Jackson -- made first-team All-Pro.
Couldn’t be happier for Eddie. We could have used him badly in the 2016 national title game, just like Trevon Diggs and Christian Miller in this year’s. Watching that last drive unfold from the sidelines had to be gut-wrenching for him. If you are interested, al.com has a nice compilation of highlights that includes a bunch of former Tide players, though others with local ties are featured as well.
Last, Dabo is now acknowledging that Clemson may have given those players a substance containing Ostarine.
“Oh yeah, I mean, there’s a chance that it could come from anything,” Swinney said. “They’re going to test everything and look at everything. And that’s the problem. As you really look at this stuff, it could be a contaminant that came from anything, that was something that was cleared and not a problem, and all of a sudden, it becomes there was something.”
“Gee whiz, Mrs. Cleaver. I can’t even say the word Ostarine. Honest!”
Clemson’s “search” for the source is akin to O.J. Simpson’s search for the real killer. If they were concerned about a potential unknown contaminant, the first control would be to test all players to get a better sample size and try to link together all common supplements taken, wouldn’t it? Yeah, Clemson isn’t doing that, which combined with Dabo’s remarks suggest that they already know the answer at worst and don’t want to know how many players would have been disqualified at best. The NCAA has granted them a 45 day extension while some unknown products are tested. It will be very interesting to see how this turns out, but if you believe that those three kids are the only ones on the roster who would have pissed dirty, I have some magic beans and pixie dust available for purchase.
That’s about it for today. Have a great week.
Roll Tide.