I Forgive You
he said, bravely, looking at himself in the mirror
I’m not here to discuss in detail what did or didn’t happen as Tennessee fans rushed their own football field after defeating Alabama 52-49 in October of last year—a feat that the Volunteer fan base hadn’t gotten to celebrate in 15 years. I’m not here to get bogged down in some kind of technical or legal argument as to whether or not Alabama wide receiver Jermaine Burton made physical contact with any Tennessee fans in the middle of that pandemonium, or what defines “physical contact” or “assault” or “battery,” or “attack” or “defense.” It sure looks like he made contact according to at least one video. Based on that same video, it’s clear that he swiped his arm and hand towards a female fan, and her reaction was to reach for the back of her head. Simple as that.
It doesn’t appear that any criminal charges were brought against Burton, and the most we heard from Nick Saban is that he was looking into the incident. At least, that was in the immediate aftermath—I couldn’t tell you about any further developments, if there were any. I’m an Auburn fan, so contrary to popular belief, I don’t actually follow everything Alabama is doing. I don’t keep up with these situations closely.
But a friend of mine shared this Sports Illustrated update with me a few days ago, and I was dumbfounded by Burton’s statement regarding the Tennessee incident in a Sugar Bowl postgame interview:
“That whole situation, it was a mistake,” Burton said after Alabama’s Sugar Bowl win over Kansas State, per the Knoxville News Sentinel. “I can’t hold that against myself forever. But a mistake is a mistake. You move past it. I’m not going to let situation frame me as a person or shape me as a person because I know who I am, and my team knows who I am.”1
I’m happy to let others argue what actually happened based on video evidence and speculate as to why “that whole situation” happened. You have every right to make those arguments based on what you’re looking at, which is grainy and low-quality to begin with given the distance between the phone camera in the stands and Burton’s position on the field below. But what nobody is questioning is that Jermaine Burton was involved to some degree in this encounter with at least one Tennessee fan. That’s his jersey number. He’s admitted he was involved. He was undoubtedly right there, so let’s start there.
Let’s pretend for a second that Burton never actually did make contact with this fan. Maybe he was genuinely trying to avoid this fan and in a split-second decision he moved his arm and hand in a way that, from the right angle, looked like he was hitting or “smacking” this fan near her head. Maybe as he walked away in full pads holding his helmet surrounded by fans who weren’t wearing either, he actually felt threatened in all the commotion and was just trying to protect himself in an awkward encounter with this one fan. Maybe he did make contact, but it was accidental in a moment of fight-or-flight, or something similar.
The problem is that he doesn’t elaborate on any of these possibilities, and further, his use of the word “mistake” argues the exact opposite. Burton seems to know that what he did (yes, allegedly) was wrong. But based on his statement, he also doesn’t assign any ownership to who actually made the mistake—are we to believe the fan is the one we should blame for this incident? How dare she be in his way like the thousands of other fans rushing the field at the same moment? Is that why he feels the need to express that he’s forgiven himself? My goodness, how thoughtful and mature of him. Stunning and brave, his words, in the face of such adversity, this happy female fan who has been caught up in the collective euphoria of this long-awaited victory.
We’re living in an age where these incidents get placed under a microscope, which is why this incident is at the same time fascinating and baffling to me for at least two reasons. First, other than Burton’s statement this past weekend and Saban mentioning it after the Tennessee game, there really hasn’t been much else. Maybe there doesn’t need to be. If Saban addressed it internally, fine. The details of that process might not be any of our business—and Saban has been pretty fiery in press conferences in response to people’s questions about disciplinary action, so maybe the beat has decided that it’s better to wait to ask those kinds of questions. But Burton played for the remainder of the season, including the Sugar Bowl, so there’s no indication of any kind of suspension or other disciplinary action that would’ve affected his playing time. It’s just an odd set of circumstances given how meticulous Saban is about discipline both on and off the field. And the man controls every aspect of his program, which requires some level of transparency (and again, he hasn’t been shy about that in the past).
Second, we exist in a daily outrage machine, and so far, I haven’t seen any of the legitimate variety regarding Burton’s actions and especially his statement. And there should be. This is a cop-out of the worst kind, and you might expect nothing less from someone who doesn’t understand or acknowledge consequences, but this is Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide. Every single player on that roster understands consequences, or they should. If they don’t, then Saban really is getting soft. Not only has Burton skirted any of those, he’s also side-stepped any personal responsibility to address what happened and what he could’ve or should’ve done differently. And even if he was innocent of what that video shows, he still could’ve come out and addressed it. He could’ve at least shown a remorseful posture, which would be a much better route than, “I’m learning how to live with myself for this mistake that happened to me.” He could’ve instead said something like, “It was a crazy situation on that field and I was simply trying to get back to our locker room. I didn’t mean to make contact with any fans. I apologize for what happened. That’s on me. That’s not how I want to represent my team, Coach Saban, or my school.” Even Saban waffles well on this issue of field-storming, which he has every right to do: on the one hand, it’s a celebration worth having, but on the other, we do have to worry about player and fan safety. Even that exact talking point on a notecard would’ve been more preferable than Burton’s sudden and profound introspection. Maybe that’s wishful thinking on my part, too.
The bottom line is that there is not one word or phrase within that entire statement that expresses that he, Jermaine Burton, is at all sorry for what happened, even if it wasn’t his 100% his fault. Is it that difficult to say, “I’m sorry,” even if you don’t mean it? Sure, these are college kids, but imagine if this were Bryce Young or Will Anderson instead.
Even if Burton was simply the victim of circumstances out of his control, he still represents the highest standard of college athletics in the country as long as Nick Saban is his head coach, and given the video evidence of what happened in that postgame flood of fans, one of them has a responsibility to clarify the details to some measure. Further, if Saban truly cares about the safety and well-being of players and fans coexisting on a football field in a postgame celebration, why wouldn’t he start here? Again, I’m not here to pull a JFK and dissect each frame of a video to prove he’s guilty. I’m here because I want to know why suddenly this standard of excellence that has dominated college football for almost half of my lifetime gets, at best, a shoulder shrug this time. A shoulder shrug, mind you, that hardly anyone else in this sport benefits from.
I’m not beyond extending forgiveness, and none of us should be. Nick Saban has adamantly argued for second chances in the past for college football players, and rightly so. If Burton truly is sorry for what happened, if he takes ownership and apologizes, we have the capacity and calling to forgive him. And then we move on, or “past it,” as he tells us he’s trying his best to do. Simple. But given his statement, I don’t see any evidence of ownership, remorse, or accountability, which is an unhealthy standard moving forward. And it’s a shame, because Nick Saban’s standards, on the other hand, are much higher than what amounts to nothing more than the Darrell E. Brooks Jr. school of victimhood, deflection, and selfishness.
“Alabama’s Jermaine Burton Addresses On-Field Incident With Woman at Tennessee,” Joseph Salvador, Sports Illustrated