UAB announced on Tuesday that it would be dropping its football program (along with rifle and bowling) after the academic year. As you might expect, most of the players did not take it well.
We already showed you several photos from an emotional scene that featured athletes crying and embracing. The video from inside the meeting where UAB president Ray Watts addressed the football team was even more powerful.
More than one player stood up to lace into Watts, fighting back tears and accusing him of only caring about “numbers” and not the livelihood of the student athletes. Dr. Saturday notes that the player at the end of the video who was talking about his 3-year-old son is Tristan Henderson, a senior tight end and former US Army policeman in Iraq.
While Watts said the school will honor any scholarship commitments it has to its athletes, we can’t imagine how difficult the situation must be for the players. Hopefully the vast majority of them are able to transfer and play elsewhere.
