Alabama has two quarterbacks who are not only talented on the field but have proven to be pretty much perfect as leaders, students, citizens and representatives of the university.
One has the benefit of a father who has shown exactly the kind of support all of us would hope we would give to our child. The dad of the other decided he needed to insert himself into the story of who should be playing quarterback for the Tide.
That’s the major difference today between the public perception of Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts.
The father of Hurts went on record with a national reporter that if his kid was not the starting quarterback he would become the most sought-after free agent in college football history.
The senior Tagovailoa, when his son was discouraged by his lack of playing time and considering a transfer, privately told his son to keep working and not consider giving up.
It’s hard to not like both young men. It’s also hard not to pull a little harder for Tagovailoa based on the way to competition has been handled publicly.
Tua Tagovailoa made news this week when he told middle-schoolers in his native Hawaii that he considered the possibility of transferring from Alabama. But he told the young students his dad would hear nothing of it. In the end, he said “If I gave in, I don’t think I would have seen the end blessing of where I am now.”
Nobody knows for sure how the Alabama quarterback competition is going to play out. But we already know that letting the two intelligent young men speak for themselves is always going to be the right choice.
For Threaded Fasteners, I’m Randy Kennedy with Nuts and Bolts of the Game.
