Player mentality is a driving force of sports, as pure athleticism will only take one so far.
This phenomenon was exemplified in The Alabama Crimson Tide’s home matchup against the Auburn Tigers in the Iron Bowl, which consistently draws millions of viewers.
“It’s one of the greatest rivalries in the country,” said quarterback Jalen Milroe.
With the added pressure of a rivalry matchup such as the Iron Bowl, players must enter this game mentally fortified for the stress.
Additionally, football is a team sport, meaning that if a team wants to perform exceptionally in each play, all 11 players must be able to perform at their peak despite outside pressure.
“Each hardship, each obstacle that we’ve been on this whole season, we’ve done together, and that’s revealing,” Milroe said.
The quarterback position is one of the most important positions on the field. Not only does it carry the responsibility for getting the ball down the field, whether through a pass or handing the ball off to another player, but the quarterback is also expected to be a leader on and off the field.
Head coach Kalen DeBoer complimented Milroe’s resilience after the game, mainly regarding his bounce-back from the previous week.
“It’s hard being the quarterback,” DeBoer said after this year’s Iron Bowl. “And I think it’s hard being the quarterback of a program that expects to win every game.”
During the week leading up to the Iron Bowl, freshman Auburn linebacker Demarcus Riddick made statements toward Milroe and freshman receiver Ryan Williams.
About Milroe, Riddick said, “He is a good quarterback, he’s fast, but he’s not faster than me.” About Williams, he said, “ain’t really nobody to me,” and “ain’t no big-time player.”
Fans’ eyes were on Milroe heading into this game after his lack-luster performance the week before against Oklahoma. With tensions already high, Auburn players were adding fuel to the fire.
Despite the pressure to rebound after the loss against Oklahoma, Milroe received compliments from his teammates for his leadership.
“He kept everybody going. Even though we had bad pace, he kept telling us [to] just flush the play and just move on to the next,” running back Jam Miller said.
But Milroe wasn’t the only leader on the field; Milroe said that multiple leaders emerged among the team throughout this season’s highs and lows, notably offensive lineman Tyler Booker.
“This is a guy that each and every day works tremendously hard to be the best version of himself, but also to uplift people,” Milroe said. “There’s two types of leadership, a pull and a lifter, and he does both those things at a very high level.”
In the end, Riddick’s words did not stop the team, which beat the Tigers 28-14.
“We heard it, we saw it, but business is business, and we gotta handle business,” defensive lineman Tim Keenan III said. “We got a job to do.”
