Saban says players safer at Alabama than 'running around at home'

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Alabama coach Nick Saban, along with two of his star players, pushed back Monday on the narrative that players are more at risk of contracting the coronavirus if the college football season is played this fall.

"I want to play, but I want to play for the players' sake, the value they can create for themselves," Saban told ESPN. "I know I'll be criticized no matter what I say, that I don't care about player safety. Look, players are a lot safer with us than they are running around at home. We have around a 2 percent positive ratio on our team since the Fourth of the July. It's a lot higher than that in society. We act like these guys can't get this unless they play football. They can get it anywhere, whether they're in a bar or just hanging out."

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Alex Leatherwood, Alabama's All-America offensive tackle, said the players should have the opportunity to be heard before any final decisions are made.

"There's a lot of noise and bad stuff out there about playing football with the virus going on, but I haven't really seen anything about what the players want," Leatherwood told ESPN. "We've been grinding all summer, and you don't want it to be all for nothing.

"The story that needs to be written is that we want to play."

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"Coach Saban listens to his players and wants to hear from us first," Alabama senior running back Najee Harris told ESPN. "He told us that none of this is about him, but it's about us. He wants to hear our concerns, and we made it clear that we want to play and feel like Alabama is doing everything they can to make sure we can play safely."

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