This isn’t going to be a popular opinion.
Alabama is great.
Disclaimer: When I say “(not a) popular opinion,” I don’t mean that my opinion is unpopular because people don’t agree with it but rather because it simply won’t be common opinion you hear today.
The popular opinions you will most likely hear in response to the Alabama Crimson Tide winning the National Championship on January 8, 2018, will be more like:
- Is Alabama the greatest team of all time?
- Which of Nick Saban’s National Championship teams was the best?
- Is Nick Saban better than Bear Bryant?
- Is Nick Saban the greatest of all time?
- Could Alabama beat the Cleveland Browns?
Seriously, must we do this again?
Can’t we just say that Alabama Football is pretty great? Do we really have to make these extreme comparisons and bold proclamations that can never be proven?
Consider this: I recently bought a new pair of shoes and I really like them (#kd10).
What if instead of just liking my shoes, I constantly compared them to not only the other shoes in my closet, but also all of my shoes for all times and all occasions. It would get exhausting and what’s worse, I would probably fail to truly appreciate my new shoes.
You can apply this analogy to almost anything. The last steak you had. The last vacation you took. The last sunset you saw.
Ready for a quote that someone somewhere probably said before me?
Constantly comparing our current experiences to something in the past has the potential to rob us of the purity of the present.
In that vein, I think it’s important to assess and admire the Alabama Crimson Tide.
During the Nick Saban era, Alabama has:
- Won 5 National Championships (2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017)
- Participated in the College Football Playoffs EVERY year.
Wait, did you read that? No more than 3 years have passed between National Championships meaning Nick Saban has steadily recruited and reloaded each and every year. Which probably means…
- 22 Alabama Players since 2007 (Saban’s first year) have been drafted in the 1st round of NFL Draft (that’s enough players for a whole team)
- 2 Heisman Winners (Mark Ingram 2009, Derrick Henry 2015)
I’ll offer this final thought:
In a time when nothing is for certain and the times are constantly changing, it’s good to know that consistent greatness sustained over a long period of time still exists.
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