In case you didn’t know, college football in Alabama is a pretty big deal.
The state of Alabama doesn’t have a professional football team — or any pro sports team for that matter — so its residents have taken a rather fanatical devotion to their local college football squads, chief among them the Alabama Crimson Tide.
No more was that crazy fandom on display than during Alabama’s annual Fan Day on Sunday, when fans sprinted onto the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium in a mad rush to get autographs — from the head coach.
That’s not a joke, folks. The frenzy you witnessed above was to get in line for an autograph from Nick Saban.
In the fans’ defense, Saban certainly has earned his elevated status, bringing three BCS national championships to Tuscaloosa since taking over in 2007. And in an environment where star players are in town for four years at most, a head coach can be the one constant face for fans to cheer for.
That being said, the fact that a 62-year-old man can have hundreds of fans sprinting toward him with admiration in their eyes is pretty ridiculous.
Keep doing you, Alabama fans.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@b_pearson
