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Next stop NFL? Alabama's Bryant, Alexander ponder pro careers
Posted: Saturday December 26, 1998 01:27 PM
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama (AP) -- This week's Music City Bowl won't just be the end of a season for Fernando Bryant and Shaun Alexander. It could be the beginning of professional football careers. Alexander said he isn't sure if he will return for his senior season with the Crimson Tide after the December 29 bowl in Nashville, in which Alabama (7-4) will face Virginia Tech (8-3). Bryant, who recorded 51 tackles and two interceptions his senior season, is looking in the direction of the NFL after the bowl game. "After the 29th, everything I do is either going to make me money or lose me money," he said. "I'll be looked at in the Senior Bowl and the NFL combine. It's all based upon money. It's sad, but that's the way it is." Alexander, a tailback who Alabama coach Mike DuBose has called "the greatest football player in America," said he planned to discuss his future with his family in Kentucky. "We'll get together and talk about the pros and cons of everything and what my family needs and the things that I want and whether I feel like it's more beneficial for me to go or to stay," said Alexander, who led the Southeastern Conference with 13 rushing touchdowns and scored a school-record five touchdowns in the Tide's season opener against Brigham Young. DuBose's words of praise left him unmoved. "He's smart," Alexander said. "He's supposed to say stuff like that ... if I was the coach and I had a running back that had a good year like I did this year, then I might say that too, just to make sure that he comes back and helps the team." After Alexander's three-touchdown performance against Auburn, DuBose promised to launch a Heisman Trophy campaign if Alexander returned. Alabama has never had a Heisman Trophy winner. Bryant said he decided to stay for his senior season after his uncle, Don Griffin, an NFL veteran, promised him a new car if he did. He still lacks three classes to obtain his physical education degree, but said he's not sure he'll be in school for the second semester, despite talking with former Alabama running back Bobby Humphrey. Humphrey left Alabama after the 1988 season and recently earned his degree in social work. "When you see someone like [Humphrey], it pushes you to get the degree," Bryant said. "It's something you want to prove to some people." He said he prides himself on being a physical cornerback who's able to deliver a hit. He also normally is assigned to cover the opposition's best receiver. He believes that might help him in the NFL draft. "My uncle tells me that when I sign, I'm going to make more in my first contract than he made his entire career, and he played for 10 years," Bryant said. "But I never want to be rich the way Deion Sanders is or Michael Jordan is, where you can't even take your family out without causing a riot."
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