Nick Saban Claims Picking Against Alabama was 'Counter Rat Poison': Roll Call, July 18, 2024

Your daily briefing on what's going on with Alabama athletics and how to keep up with the Crimson Tide.

Jul 15, 2015; Birmingham, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban speaks to ESPN during SEC media day at the Wynfrey Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports / Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports

Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban has made a number of headlines this week while appearing on television at the SEC Now desk during SEC Media Days in Dallas.

On Monday, Saban revealed his SEC title game picks, going with Georgia and Texas. Notably, that did not include Alabama, the school he just retired from after 17 years and six national titles.

Appearing on SportsCenter on Wednesday, Saban clarified the clever reasonings for his picks.

"I got, kind of, criticized today by some of my former players that I didn't pick them to be in the SEC championship game, but they need to understand that's counter-rat poison," Saban said. "I never wanted to get picked first. I always wanted to be the underdog. This was counter-rat poison. I hope they understand that."

Too much positive hype is typically what Saban refers to as rat poison, so he's taking the opposite approach with his former team and former players, perhaps giving them some added motivation as the season approaches.

Did You Notice?

• Former Alabama guard Keon Ellis continued his strong play in summer league, scoring 29 points for the Kings. Ellis has done well establishing himself as a member of the team's core after being on a two-way contract for multiple years.

• Also having a solid summer league is former Alabama guard JD Davison, who scored 8 points and added 4 assists for the Celtics including his highlight reel play:

JD with the no-look dime 👀 pic.twitter.com/18l7q4jf2U

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) July 17, 2024

• Former Alabama baseball catcher Mac Guscette was signed by the Atlanta Braves after going undrafted in the MLB Draft.

The Atlanta Braves sign...@GuscetteMac ➡️ @Braves #RollTide || #BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/681TMPcp29

— Alabama Baseball (@AlabamaBSB) July 17, 2024

Countdown to the Crimson Tide's 2024 Football Season Opener:

44 days

On This Day in Crimson Tide History:

July 18, 2014: Having won four national titles, Nick Saban was asked how his legacy compares to Paul “Bear” Bryant’s at SEC media days.“I think Bear Bryant is probably the greatest coach in college football in terms of what he accomplished, what his legacy is. I think the biggest thing that impacts me is how many peoples' lives he affected in a positive way, players that played for him, because they all come back and say how he affected their life.  They don't come back and say, We won a championship in '78, '79, '61, whenever it was.  They come back and say how he affected their lives There's a lot of Bear Bryant stories that I've learned a lot from, that have made me a better person.  I certainly appreciate that, have a tremendous amount of respect for what he accomplished. There's no way that we have done anything close to what he's done in terms of his consistency over time, how he changed what he did to impact the times.  They threw the ball and won.  They ran the wishbone and won.  I mean, he changed tremendously to do what he needed to do to be successful.  I don't think that it would be fair that anyone really be compared to what he was able to accomplish, the way he did it, and how he impacted other people.” 

Crimson Tide Quote of the Day:

“He's down to earth, fun. He feels more like a teammate than a coach, especially when we're out on the field. He does his job extremely well as you can obviously see. But as a player, you feel like he's one of us, which makes our job a lot easier.” – Former Alabama cornerback Javier Arenas (2006-09)

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