Imagine, if you will, working the night shift and setting out to walk through the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility and make sure things are all tidied up. It’s 10:30 p.m. on a Sunday. The expectation is there is no one else in the building.

Then you come across Mac Jones throwing passes to Mac Hereford in nothing but compression shorts.

For Jones — the former Alabama quarterback, national champion, and first-round NFL Draft pick — there is no such thing as too much football.

Hereford, a teammate of Jones’ at Alabama, recently shared the story of a team trip to Birmingham for the annual football banquet. A formal event, so suits and dress shoes were required.

Upon their return to Alabama’s football facilities, Jones pulled Hereford aside.

“Mac’s like, ‘Hereford, you wanna catch a couple?'” he recalled. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, but I’m not gonna get out of my suit. I’m gonna stay in my suit.’ So I’m in my suit from the banquet, Mac goes and changes — he gets in his stuff. He comes out on the field and it starts off like we’re just tossing. I’m like, ‘Alright, I guess I’ll take off the jacket. Getting a little bit hot in here.’ I’m in a button-down and some slacks out here in the Mal M. Moore practice facility.

“We keep throwing and then he’s like, ‘Hey, do you mind jogging this route?’ So then I’m jogging this little slant route, catching the ball. I love catching, I’m a field rat, so I love this stuff. But, I’m barefoot. I didn’t bring my cleats, so now I’ve gotten out of my church shoes, I’m barefoot in Mal M. Moore facility, it’s like 10:30 at night and we just got back from this thing, and no one else is here. I’m in a suit catching footballs from Mac Jones. Like, what is going on right now?

Eventually, Hereford said he wound up in nothing but his compression shorts running full routes barefoot inside the team’s practice facility.

No surprise Jones led the Tide to a title. A love of football and an unending drive to get better are hallmarks of championship teams. Jones sure had them. And so did Hereford.