re: Sayin tidbit from Watts

quote:

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I was just under the mistaken, school boy belief that the current batch of Alabama players (at least the starters) were loyal to the school and not just to the coach. Bond and Downs leaving absolutely disabused me of that notion and it hurt. Why did it hurt? Because I remember 20 some odd years ago when shite hit the fan with the NCAA and Franchione leaving. We had players like DeMeco Ryans who genuinely loved Alabama and who remained through all the trials and tribulations of that era, played four years, became an All-American and went high in the NFL Draft. He had a solid NFL career and is now the head coach of an NFL playoff team.

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You really can't compare the era before NIL and the portal to the era after. Folks like DeMeco had no option to leave back then without sitting out for an entire year and no potential for increasing their personal payday. The graduate transfer rule wasn't even in place then; if you transferred you sat for a year regardless of the situation.

I'd say most of those guys were here to play for Bama and did love the place back then, but the landscape is sadly all commercial now.