Five years ago, when McCarron was distinguished mostly by his flop of hair and wad of tattoos, he showed up to his first scrimmage at Alabama expecting a spot on the depth chart that wasn’t there. Upset, he went straight to his head coach’s office. What happened next is burned into Saban’s mind forever.
“AJ was on our team for 11 days, and he thought he should be second team and we played him on third team,” Saban recalled. “He came fussing and kicking and cussing up to my office after the scrimmage because he was disappointed he didn’t play with the second team.”
Saban’s message to his young quarterback: “We’re only evaluating you on one thing today and that was leadership, and you failed dramatically.”
The rest, as they say, is history.
Over the past four years, coach and quarterback have become remarkably similar. Their mannerisms are often the same — kicking dirt, slapping hands, shouting at players — as are their attitudes — imperfection in any form isn’t tolerated, mental mistakes are disdained.
“AJ and Coach Saban get along better than anyone else on the team,” Steen said. “They have their certain jokes that I don’t even get sometimes, talking straight about football, too. I just pretend and laugh with them.”
When McCarron was asked at SEC media days what he thought of the seeming lack of attention he receives despite winning so many games, he responded in typical Saban form. He wanted to meet who “they” were that were saying all these things about him.
“It’s funny to me,” he said. “Sometimes I feel like any other quarterback in the country wins two national championships and he’s the best thing since sliced bread. And I’m still labeled a game manager.
“It’s fine with me. They can call me a bench rider, as long as we keep winning, I don’t care.”
Saban wasn’t there to hear his quarterback’s response, but it’s safe to say he would have enjoyed it. Maybe more than anything, it’s a sign of how far McCarron has come.
McCarron is now the unquestioned leader of the defending champion Crimson Tide and a safe bet to land somewhere in the early rounds of next year’s NFL draft. He finished last season ranked first in the country in passing efficiency and this year he has even more talent at receiver with DeAndrew White, Chris Black and Kenny Bell all back from injury.Amari Cooper has progressed into an All-American talent at receiver and Kevin Norwood is as steady a target as they come in the SEC.
A year stronger and a year wiser, McCarron is one of the frontrunners to win the Heisman Trophy.
Teammates say they’ve noticed that his strength and accuracy are improved, and no one is questioning his commitment to the game.
“AJ gets better every day, every year,” veteran wideout Christion Jones said. “He’s going to get better no matter if it’s the passing game or better fakes.”
McCarron, for his part, isn’t willing to self-analyze or speculate — yet another example of the mirror image of Saban he’s become. There’s still some of the hot-tempered freshman there in him somewhere, but much of it has changed to reflect the coach he’s followed into three of the past four national championships.
“I’d be lying to say no, the Heisman — I’ve never thought of it,” he said. “My mom still has a picture of me … dressed up in a ‘Bama football costume and did the Heisman pose, and she took a picture of it. It’s always been a dream of mine, but at the same time I’m not going to let my personal goals come in the way of our team goals. If I achieve that, that’s great. I’m happy.
“But at the same time, I’m a team-first guy. I’ve always been that way. You’ll never hear anybody say I’m selfish in any type of way. That’s when your program and team starts to fall off, when you’re not team-oriented and you’re more into personal goals. That’s the ingredients for failure there.”
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[Sun/Pluto = Eris]
A.J. McCarron was born on September 13th, 1990 (time of birth unknown) in Mobile, Alabama according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.J._McCarron
September 13th, 1990
9 + 13 +1+9+9+0 = 41 = his life lesson = A menace on the field. Things can get ugly.
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September 13th, 1990
September 13th
9 + 13 +2+0+1+3 = 28 = his personal year (from September 13th, 2013 to September 12th, 2014) = Vulnerabilities. Strengths and weaknesses. Nothing is impossible, Making the impossible possible. Overcoming obstacles.
28 year + 11 (November) = 39 = his personal month (from November 13th, 2013 to December 12th, 2013) = Dream come true.
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using the number/letter grid:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
A B C D E F G H I
J K L M N O P Q R
S T U V W X Y Z
Where:
A = 1 J = 1 S = 1
B = 2 K = 2 T = 2
C = 3 L = 3 U = 3
D = 4 M = 4 V = 4
E = 5 N = 5 W = 5
F = 6 O = 6 X = 6
G = 7 P = 7 Y = 7
H = 8 Q = 8 Z = 8
I = 9 R = 9
A.J. McCarron
1 1 43319965 42
his path of destiny = 42 = I’m luvin’ this. Everybody loves A.J. McCarron.
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predictions for the year 2013 are at:
http://predictionsyear2013.com/
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discover some of your own numerology for FREE at:
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learn numerology from numerologist to the world, Ed Peterson:
https://www.createspace.com/4317439
sports astrology and numerology 