Another National Signing Day has passed, as has most of the annual madness that comes along with it. I know, I know, that’s contradictory to what the title says, but even I have to admit that the hype surrounding National Signing Day borders on hysteria. When else is it socially acceptable to glue yourself to your TV or computer to follow around teenagers?

This next class of Alabama players has had its members committing all throughout the recruiting season, sometimes as early as the beginning of these players’ junior year of high school. And all the way through, Alabama fans have researched, analyzed and re-analyzed those kids, generating hype for players who’ve yet to put on a crimson uniform. Heck, there was even some buzz surrounding Adam Griffith, the second-ranked kicker by Rivals.com. You know it’s crazy when people start getting excited about a kicker. And the closer it got to NSD, the harder the hype machine started to work. Who didn’t watch the Under Armour All American game just to see if some big-time recruits would commit to their school? Who didn’t spend at least a little time on YouTube looking for highlights of prospective recruits? Who didn’t try to reason why one recruit should choose Alabama as if they were actually trying to convince the player himself? Now, I can’t speak for the rest of the college football world in saying these things. This is, after all, Alabama football. We take it a little more seriously than others. The truth is, Alabama fans are trying to hearken back to the past by putting their faith in the future. Every potential recruit could be the next Mark Ingram, Derrick Thomas or even Joe Namath. One of these guys could develop into the best that’s ever been here. And that’s what excites us. Of course, plenty of recruiting storylines were exciting in and of themselves. When Landon Collins, a Louisiana native, committed to Alabama over highly-favored LSU, everyone was shocked. Then, that shock turned into complete disbelief when Collins’ mother expressed her obvious disapproval of her son’s decision by flashing LSU Nike gloves on national television. The same can be said for Jameis Winston, one of the nation’s best quarterbacks, right out of Hueytown: Winston brought about a firestorm of outrage when he elected to commit to Florida State rather than stay in his home state. But despite Winston’s commitment, many hoped head coach Nick Saban would be able to sway him to sign with the Tide, where Alabama fans would probably proceed to pretend they never said a bad word about him. And of course, there’s the nation’s best recruit in Dorial Green-Beckham. Beckham, a wide receiver out of Missouri, has been described as a hybrid mix between Andre Johnson and Calvin Johnson. What’s more, this guy has been hyped up to be the best player to come out of high school since … well, the year before. That year, the exact same accolades belonged to Jadeveon Clowney and Ronald Powell. And you can bet, the year before, someone else was the best player to ever come out of high school. That’s the beauty of college football recruiting. Every year, people come at it with renewed vigor. There’s no such thing as too much talent, and as long as schools have football teams, days like National Signing Day will always be the Christmas of college football. Like I said, it’s not crazy. It’s just National Signing Day. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go research some players from the class of 2013.