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Paul Finebaum says he’s ‘waving white flag of surrender’ after leading Alabama Playoff campaign
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Paul Finebaum wasn’t hiding on New Year’s Day morning.
The ESPN college football analyst was instead front and center on ESPN’s Get Up, where he literally waved a white flag of surrender regarding Alabama’s inclusion or lack thereof in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. Finebaum led the charge for the Crimson Tide, despite the warts and despite the 3 regular-season losses, in being deserving of a Playoff spot.
But after Tuesday’s sloppy performance in the slop in Tampa, where Alabama fell, 19-13, to an inspired Michigan team in the ReliaQuest Bowl, Finebaum had seen enough. And he admitted it on Wednesday morning to show host Mike Greenberg and, ironically, former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy, who is now an ESPN analyst.
“I led the Alabama parade to get them into the Playoff. I’ve stood on every building, especially on this show. On the first day of the new year, I’m surrendering. I am waving the white flag. Forget Alabama!” screamed Finebaum, as he tossed a white flag to the side.
Maybe it was Alabama’s abject failure to meet the moment on New Year’s Eve, as Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe committed 3 turnovers all by himself in the first quarter alone at rain-soaked Raymond James Stadium. Or maybe it was Alabama’s general lack of enthusiasm for a bowl game that at least would’ve given the Crimson Tide double-digit victories in Kalen DeBoer’s first season in charge.
Instead, Alabama finished at 9-4, its streak of 10-win seasons was over at 16, and Finebaum couldn’t defend it all any longer.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
