re: Caleb Downs on biggest lessons Saban taught him: "He taught me a lot about commitment..."

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While you do have a good point I think maybe it's us old timers that think it's selfish to abandon your team for more money.The present generation has less empathy for people and are more likely to go with immediate gratification,or rewards,money,etc., than us older generation.Not necessarily wrong, just different way or thinking.

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But they're professional athletes now. They play football, college or NFL for money. It's a job. They're earning a living and they're doing it at a very young age.

I've made job decisions based on money. It's not at all a bad thing to do and it's not selfish, so much as it is prudent.

They're not doing it really for "immediate gratification" either. I never once took a better job for "immediate gratification" and neither are these guys. They're doing it because on average, their earning potential is extremely limited. Even for someone who's as seemingly talented as Downs, the odds of medium to long term success in the NFL is low.

Some of these decisions will work out for these guys and some won't. But in terms of "rewards, money, etc". Every professional decision I've ever made has been made for those reasons and they're good reasons to do it.

What folks have to reconcile with (which i have) is that college football players are professionals now. They play this sport for money. Not each other, not "school pride" or whatever other thing that matters to us.

Caleb Downs isn't "abandoning" anyone, anymore than Nick Saban abandoned, Kent State, Michigan State, LSU or The Miami Dolphins.

We all have to get past the old way of thinking about this stuff. These players no more care about the University of Alabama than players care about the ownership of your favorite NFL team. That's just the way it is now.