Last week, Nick Saban unloaded a lot on college football about his displeasure with the current NIL structure.
His concerns are not wrong, but his name-dropping of Texas A&M sparked a feud between Saban and Jimbo Fisher.
Both coaches worked together for a BCS National Championship in 2003 at Louisiana State University and regarded as great friends for a long time. The situation between the two will make for an entertaining SEC Media Days in July and a matchup on Oct. 8 for Alabama and Texas A&M at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Several people had opinions on Saban’s comments, and most agreed with him. Kareem Jackson, a former Crimson Tide cornerback, was on The Herd with Colin Cowherd last week. Jackson, a native Georgian, played for Saban from 2007 to 2009. He was a starting cornerback on the ’09 BCS National Championship team.
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When asked about Saban’s complaints on NIL, Jackson told Cowherd that he wishes NIL was around when he was in school.
*Kareem Jackson speaks about Nick Saban’s NIL comments at the 4:59 mark
“I mean, things change,” Jackson said. “It is not going to be what it was. He is used to getting all the players and beating these schools out, but now these schools know a way to get the top players in the country. That is how it is supposed to be. Things change, things evolve, so I am all for these guys making whatever money they make.”
Jackson mentioned how tough it was on college athletes on campus without a job before NIL compensation came in.
“If you wanted to go off campus to get something nice to eat, you couldn’t because you were not making any money,” he said. “Now that has changed. It is great for these guys. I’d look forward to every semester when they would put a $200 stipend on our ID cards. I would look forward to that monthly because you could survive off pizza and wings. Sometimes it would take three or four guys tipping in to get the pizza and wings. The cafeteria kept you alive. It was a struggle.”
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Jackson enters his thirteenth NFL season and fourth with the Denver Broncos. He got selected in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans. Jackson played 41 career games for the Crimson Tide. He totaled 49 tackles, three tackles for loss, 13 pass breakups, and an interception in 2009. Jackson is for the players getting paid no matter how it comes.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
