With cases of COVID-19 continuing to arise all throughout the country, it has forced some student-athletes, especially those in the fall, to make some difficult decisions on their seasons.
A fair number of notable players have already made the call to sit out the season, and with the regular season gearing up to begin in roughly one month, that list of players may increase as time goes on.
But any players on the Alabama football team who decide to opt-out of the season, will not be released immediately to the public.
Head coach Nick Saban made it clear in his press conference on Monday, that any player who makes the decision to sit out the season will have the opportunity to share that information when they themselves are ready.
“We have a lot of privacy laws relative to college athletics and college athletes, and we’re going to respect those things when it comes to health issues with our players,” said Saban. “Those things will be kept internal with the team, and we’ll keep those things in-house.”
Saban has been consistent with his players in their ability to use their voices for what they believe in. This past offseason has been a testament to that with players like running back Najee Harris and Mac Jones being large advocates for the #WeWantToPlay movement and also allowing his players to speak out on social justice issues with offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood writing a script for a video, which Saban participated in, to disavow racial inequality throughout the country.
Allowing players to have a voice is nothing new for members of the Crimson Tide and if anyone should make the call they will be provided the platform to voice their reasoning.
“Like I said, we’re not going to — we’re going to keep all those issues internal to our team,” said Saban. “The players have asked me to do that, and I agree with them. That’s what I meant by the privacy laws and what we have to do to protect guys in college football. If and when a player is ready to make an announcement about that we’ll give it to you, and that will be his prerogative to do that.”
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
