The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Old school support:
Former players lend support as Tide chase national title.
Crimson Tide backed by loud and proud alumni,
TUSCALOOSA, ALA. — You couldn’t miss them along the Alabama sideline at the Sugar Bowl. Just about everywhere one looked there was a prominent former Crim- son Tide player watching the game against Clemson, looking on as intently as those participating.
The all-star support group included Mark Ingram Jr., Cam Robinson, T.J. Yeldon, Trent Richardson, O.J. Howard, Vinnie Sunseri . ... During commercial breaks they posed for pictures and caught up with friends, but when the whistle sounded it was obvious they wanted to get in there themselves.
“I feel like that was one of those things that moti- vated us to play even harder than what we were playing,” senior linebacker Rashaan Evans said. “We’ve definitely got a lot of guys that talk to us now, even from just text messages. They constantly tell us just overemphasize everything, whether it’s film or getting some extra work in. There’s always something that you can get better at.”
Ingram, who likes to wear his letterman’s jacket to Alabama games, went so far as to write an open letter to the players last week, titled “This is your time,” his version of carpe diem (seize the day).
That was a little out of ordi- nary, but having former play- ers around the program is not. A lot of those still playing continue to work out at the Crimson Tide’s facili- ties during the offseason, and Nick Saban has many on staff, as well. This season that includes Glen Coffee, Javier Arenas, William Vlachos, Nick Perry and Geno Matias-Smith.
Others have been around on a regular basis as part of their post-playing careers. When Alabama played at Mississippi State, former quar- terback Greg McElroy was on the ESPN television broad- cast, while former offensive lineman Barrett Jones was the radio analyst.
Sometimes they say some- thing, but often they don’t need to.
“We know what guys like that expect from us,” junior running back Damien Harris said. “Guys who have been here, who have played here and kind of laid the foundation for what we’re doing right now, we know what they expect of us. They don’t necessarily have to reach out to us.
“Any type of guy like Julio Jones, Mark Ingram, Marcell Dareus, guys like that. When they come to those games they expect us to play to a certain standard. It’s some- thing that we also think about in the back of our minds.”
But some do reach out, as former linebacker Ryan Anderson did to Evans.
“He texted me right before the Clemson game and was saying that just to make sure that I don’t take none of this stuff for granted,” Evans said.
“In that situation, where it was last year and we were in the Clemson game, a lot of the younger guys wanted to send some of the seniors off the right way and we didn’t get a chance to do that. So I kind of feel like in this way, I’m kind of still playing for that for him. To be able to get a big win and get another national championship that would mean everything. I feel like that would kind of complete a lot of things we didn’t complete last year.”
When Alabama plays Geor- gia at 8 p.m. on Monday, the Crimson Tide side figures to again be full of former players, although at this point the team probably doesn’t need any help in terms of motiva- tion. It’s the national cham- pionship, and their legacy is at stake.
“I think it shows a lot about the quality of this program,” Harris said. “You have a lot of older guys who are playing in the NFL, have playoffs to worry about and stuff like that and they come to watch us play in these big- time games. I think it’s kind of a testament to the way this program has been.”