Former NFL player says Nick Saban cut him for visiting dying dad

A former Miami Dolphins player claimed then-head coach Nick Saban cut him from the team for visiting his dying father.

When you look at Nick Saban from the outside, you can tell he puts football first and everything else second. That may be different to those who know him personally, but for those on the outside that is the image we all see every Saturday as he coaches the Alabama Crimson Tide.

That impression isn’t going to get any better after the comments that were made Thursday by one of Saban’s former players at the Miami Dolphins. P.K. Sam, a wide receiver who signed with the team during the coach’s second and final season with Miami in 2006, tweeted a sarcastic message to the coach, and made a disturbing claim as to why he was cut by Saban:

It should be noted that Sam was not on the active roster. He was on the practice squad at the time he was cut, and was later re-signed by the Dolphins under the team’s next head coach before being cut again.

With that being said, the sad part is many people who read the tweet likely said “Yep, sounds about right.” While Saban has not commented on the claim (and let’s be honest, he’s not going to), it would be one of the most disturbing things if it is indeed true.

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Sam, who won a Super Bowl ring with the New England Patriots in 2004 after being drafted from Florida State, has been out of football since 2011 — and if the story is true, has been waiting to share his side of the story for years.