AJ McCarron: I Was Never An Alabama Fan
By Josh Sanchez
Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback A.J. McCarron is preparing to lead his team on Monday night in Miami, Florida as they prepare to defend their national championship in a match up against the top-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
McCarron is a native of Mobile, Alabama and grew up less than three hours away from the Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa. One would assume that McCarron would have grown up an Alabama fan and dream of one day quarterbacking the Crimson Tide in the national championship, but it turns out that McCarron has never been much of an Alabama fan.
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When asked by the media in Miami about legendary Crimson Tide head coach Bear Bryant, McCarron made a stunning admission that likely wasn’t what the ‘Bama fans wanted to hear.
“I was never an Alabama fan,” McCarronsaid. “I don’t know the history, at all.”
It may not have been McCarron’s dream to lead the Crimson Tide in the national title game, but he will be living his dream when he quarterbacks at Sun Life Stadium because he grew up a fan of the Miami Hurricanes.
“I grew up a big Miami Hurricanes fan,” said McCarron.
“Whenever you’re a little kid, the team that’s winning the most is probably your favorite. They had one of my favorite players of all time, Ken Dorsey. They ended up being in my top three with Alabama and Oklahoma right before I decided [on where to go to college].”
Alabama fans may not like to hear McCarron didn’t live and die for the Alabama program growing up, but they can take some comfort in knowing that McCarron’s parents did their best to make him a fan of the Crimson Tide.
“I just remember thinking ‘You freak, we’re Alabama fans,’” McCarron’s mom, Dee Dee Bonner, said, per the Sun-Sentinel. “‘What are you talking about?’ Because we raised him to be an Alabama fan.”
In the end, as long as McCarron delivers another national title to the Alabama fan base, they won’t care where his fandom stands.