LISTEN: Minkah Fitzpatrick tells Paul Finebaum he thought about not playing in championship game

After Minkah Fitzpatrick suffered a bruised kidney in the Sugar Bowl game against Clemson, there was a chance the Crimson Tide were going to have to face Georgia in the national championship game without their star defensive back.

Fitzpatrick made the media rounds at ESPN on Thursday and found time to conduct an interview with Paul Finebaum. In the Finebaum interview, Fitzpatrick explained just how difficult it was to prepare for the championship game against Georgia.

“I was hurting,” Fitzpatrick told Finebaum. “I had bruised my kidney real bad in the week before, the game before. I really couldn’t practice a whole lot, could barely even stand during that week of practice. I had to just lay down during practice until Saturday was the only day I could really practice. That practice I had to practice. It was tough.”

Not surprisingly, when you’re unable to stand, the thought of not being able to play in the game at least crosses your mind.

“I had thought about not playing, but after a little while I was just like, ‘Nah, I can’t not be out there with my boys,’” Fitzpatrick told Finebaum.

Finebaum revealed that sources told him as late as the night before the game that it was uncertain if Fitzpatrick would suit up. The Jim Thorpe and Chuck Bednarkik award-winner managed to give it a go and recorded five tackles.

The full segment can be heard here.

Andrew Olson

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.