TUSCALOOSA, Ala. _ When it comes to draft reports by National Football League scouts all players want to avoid the word “but,” at least according to Nick Saban.
During his press conference Thursday, the University of Alabama coach was asked about Tim Williams, who was suspended for all of training camp for violating teams rules and rejoined the team Wednesday.
The sophomore linebacker’s transgression has never been disclosed, but to put it into perspective defensive lineman Jarran Reed was suspended for only the first week of camp after being arrested for driving under the influence.
That led to this discourse by Saban, who had recently been looking at some old draft reports:
“Every report always starts with what a good football player a guy is, he can do this, this, this and this,” he said. “It’s all good. Then it’s two words that come after that: ‘But’ and there’s nothing anything that comes after ‘but,’ or there’s ‘and’ … he’s a good person, ‘and’ he does what he’s supposed to do, ‘and’ he’s well liked by his teammates, ‘and’ he can be trusted, ‘and’ he respects everybody, ‘and’ he does the right things.
“‘But’ is not good because most of the time there’s a but in that report, things go downhill after that. And that’s everybody’s responsibility to understand what they have to do to do the right things, and we certainly want to support our players to do the right things, and help them realize the consequences of not doing the right things in terms of helping them be successful as people, in school, as football players, all these things.
“The reason these guys are here are to be more successful in life. We want them to have a successful football career, and academic career, but hopefully some of the things that they learn will help them be more successful in life.”
Williams was expected to be a pass-rusher this season after playing in seven games, with three tackles including one for a loss. However, it might be a while before Crimson Tide fans see him in another game.
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
