Former Alabama Players On Doing Things The Right Way

Say what you will.

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Nobody has better insight than the guys who have lived it, eaten it, and sacrificed their bodies for it. The Alabama Crimson Tide has an unmatched legacy, and that's why they are an iconic brand in sports. I would put them in the same category as the Yankees, Lakers, Dallas Cowboys, and Boston Celtics.

Recently, I had the chance to sit down with former Tide players Tyrone Prothro, Wallace Gilberry, and DJ Hall. I remember DJ Hall making some amazing catches in his day.

Several things struck me about what they observe from their position now, which often includes attending practices, but they are on the outside looking in at the program.

You can hear it in this very story, but Wallace brought up a tradition of accountability and excellence they learned during the early years of Nick Saban.

The tradition involved players meeting very late after a game that didn’t live up to the standard, calling each other out face-to-face, and holding each other accountable for how they played and the attitude they displayed.

Sometimes these meetings would take place at 1:30 or two in the morning, but make no mistake: if they had a game that didn’t live up to the standard.

They held each other accountable. Hall told me a couple of similar stories about his time at the Capstone.

Listen to the conversation with the guys below:

https://townsquare.media/site/532/files/2025/09/attachment-GILBERRYWFFN-25-09-06-15-00-2.mp3

Nobody enjoys being called out in front of the entire team. That’s no fun, but it makes a huge impact.

It’s funny because the players at the end of the discussion surmised that these days, doing that style of players-only meeting probably violates some NCAA rule.

Probably true.
This is definitely the standard that needs to continue in Tuscaloosa against Florida State. We can't lose the games we are supposed to win.