For the first time, this season the Alabama Crimson Tide will be experiencing something unique and maybe even a bit unnatural.
A Saturday off.
This past week has been the team’s first of two bye weeks of the season and so far head coach Nick Saban has been taking the time to recondition basic fundamentals on his players as well as doing some light game prep for the challenges ahead. But this weekend the squad will get some well-deserved rest as they have worked themselves back on top of the college football rankings.
Anytime college students have a free weekend the ambitious plans of partying and traveling begin to circulate amongst the friend groups. Although they are student-athletes, the members of the Crimson Tide have a much different procedure when dealing with days off.
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“Most of the time it’s just sit in the house and play the (video) game,” said wide receiver DeVonta Smith. “A lot of us like to play Madden and 2K. So I mean just sit in the house, play the game and watch some football.”
As enthusiastic as some might be to spend their time kicking back and watching some of the other games, there are a couple who take a bit of a break from football.
“I’ll probably watch a game or two,” said safety Jared Mayden. “I know I’ve got a couple of friends that play at different places. But for the most part, we’re sitting down on the couch chilling.”
Judging from some of the highschools some of the players come from, there is no surprise that there are a lot who have friends playing at other big-time schools. Supporting your former teammates and friends is a great way to spend your Saturday, and another is finally getting a bit of free time to spend with your family.
“I’m going to be with my kids on Saturday,” said defensive back Shyheim Carter. “Probably (going) to Chuck E. Cheese or something.”
While the team gets some needed recovery time, it’ll be safe to assume that head coach Nick Saban will be taking advantage of the day his own way which probably consists of a couple extra hours of watching film on Texas A&M
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
