AJ McCarron: It's tough playing QB for Alabama because the fans are so demanding

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Barker said the level of attention would overwhelm most college students. "People sent me stuff to autograph in the mail to the point that my junior year, we had to have somebody from the athletic department that would go through all the mail, separate it and get it ready to sign," Barker said. "And there's also a lot of hate mail that comes from another side." Sometimes, Barker wasn't allowed to sit next to teammates on the team bus. Instead, he sat next to a plainclothes police officer. He knew that those weeks, someone had sent in a death threat. Those don't come from actual Alabama fans, but when the Tide lose, Alabama fans melt down the phone lines on the Paul Finebaum show demanding changes -- often at quarterback. "I love playing here," McCarron said. "Best fans in the world. But this place can be hard to play at, though. Everybody gets so used to winning. The moment we don't win, it's like the world's coming to an end. I love it here, but it's tough sometimes."

It's also tough because Alabama quarterbacks are asked to play quite conservatively, though McCarron has it better than the predecessors who played for Bryant or Gene Stallings. "You think you're restricted?" Barker said. "Be in a Stallings offense." McCarron, who has an NFL-caliber arm and better-than-average speed, could post gaudier numbers in another offense, but at Alabama, he is more often asked to hand off to freakish tailbacks running behind future NFL linemen. In 2011, McCarron had almost no freedom to change plays at the line of scrimmage. The Tide offense relied mostly on tailback Trent Richardson and a line led by Outland Trophy winner Barrett Jones. But when Alabama needed to avenge its only loss to win a national title, then-offensive coordinator Jim McElwain put the BCS championship game against LSU in McCarron's hands. In the first half of the Crimson Tide's 21-0 win, 16 of Alabama's 18 first-down plays in the first half were passes. The bold game plan felt perfect for McCarron, who readily admits to cockiness on the field. "I think I can accomplish anything inside the white lines," McCarron said.

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A.J. also says that he grew up a Miami fan, originally wanted to go to Oklahoma and that his father used to constantly hate on previous Alabama QBs. I suddenly have a lot more respect for the McCarron family.