Alabama Crimson Tide fans watching Week 1 of the 2025 season at home were both shocked and none too pleased with what they were watching on Saturday afternoon. The No. 8-ranked team in the preseason AP Top 25 led by Kalen DeBoer went on the road to play unranked Florida State in a game that many thought could be a blowout in favor of the Tide. Instead, it went the other way entirely, with the two-touchdown underdog Seminoles winning in Tallahassee by two scores.
Now, imagine if you weren't just stewing in anger as a Bama fan at home and, instead, made the trek down to Tallahassee and Doak Campbell Stadium for the season-opener. Now, imagine that the ESPN cameras found you in the crowd for the national ABC broadcast on Saturday afternoon as your favorite team, whose logo is on your hat and polo, was about to lose on the road to start 0-1. How would you react in that situation.
Well, that happened for one Alabama fan, and he immediately became the first great meme of the 2025 season with the most relatable reaction of all time that needed only one finger — and it doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out which finger.
When you’re an Alabama fan about to have to contribute to Kalen DeBoer’s $70 million buyout pic.twitter.com/4n1xTrU215
— False Start: A CFB Podcast (@CFBFalseStart) August 30, 2025
Suffice it to say, my guy did not want his misery in Doak Campbell to be broadcast on ABC and the ESPN family of networks.
Alabama fan flips off camera in twilight of upset loss to Florida State
In fairness to that fan and a reaction that we're sure to see for at least the next month, if not all the way through December (depending on how the rest of the Crimson Tide's season goes), who among us hasn't had exactly that reaction toward a team when they are dramatically disappointing you? It's only human nature, especially when you've been getting rained on for three hours while watching your team lose.
But that fan and the entirety of the Alabama fan base has every reason to be extraordinarily pissed off after Saturday's game.
Throughout last season with Jalen Milroe at the helm, there were excuses that DeBoer and his staff had earned in their situation. They were coming to the Crimson Tide after Nick Saban's retirement and were being asked to not skip a beat, which also came with DeBoer's offensive coordinator at Washington, Ryan Grubb, going to the NFL instead of joining him. There was always a chance in those circumstances that things went poorly.
Having said that, there was also always less grace that was going to be offered in year two for DeBoer at Alabama. The head coach picked Ty Simpson in the three-way offseason quarterback battle, which was sticking his neck out, and came into the year with a defense many were calling elite. As a preseason Top 10 team, the expectation was College Football Playoff and perhaps even a run at a natty.
The team that fans saw against Florida State in an upset loss looked nothing of the sort. The QB decision looked wrong, the defense looked less than advertised, and DeBoer looked as he did last season in the lowest moments: out of his element.
Of course, it's Week 1 and there is a lot of college football to be played. Having said that, if the Crimson Tide's season opener portends what's to come for this team, the one-fingered reaction might become the theme for Alabama throughout the rest of the year.