AJ McCarron: Don’t Judge A Book By The Cover

AJ McCarron answered some of the tough questions tonight on Tuscaloosa’s longest running radio show – The Game hosted by Ryan C. Fowler. The first few questions revealed what I believe was relief by McCarron for being picked by what he called a “great organization” in the Cincinnati Bengals.

Ryan would dive in quickly during this 9 minute interview asking McCarron what he felt about the perception that had been created around him since he left Tuscaloosa. The (multi-time) national champion told Ryan that in today’s world everyone, like myself and you, have the ability to speak our minds on several outlets. I have a feeling he was alluding to social media and I tend to agree. A majority of us on social media do not have to answer for what we do on Twitter, Facebook, Fancred, etc. Instead we can point a finger, make false allegations based off of loose information we heard off of the always credible ESPN, and then blame AJ McCarron. His response was much classier however saying essentially this is the world we live in and everyone must deal with it. Ryan then asked McCarron about this idea of him playing with a chip on his shoulder. McCarron replied: “I’ve always played with a chip on my shoulder. Been that way since I started playing at the age of 3.” So there you go everyone: this chip on his shoulder everyone said would be a handicap of his has been there since the ripe age of 3. So if this is an handicap I would say AJ McCarron has been playing with one helluva a handicap his entire life. Personally, as someone who always been motivated through negative feedback, I can see where he is coming from. It may not always be healthy to play or do something to prove others wrong, but I’ll be damned if there is a better way to motivate someone. Especially someone who played hurt most of his last season in Tuscaloosa.

Ryan asked McCarron if he would care to elaborate on his injuries – rumors which had been swelling since before the NFL Draft – and without hesitation McCarron was happy to discuss them. He hurt his shoulder diving for a touchdown during the Tennessee game. A touchdown which would be reversed soon after.

“I injured my shoulder Tennessee week diving for the touchdown that they called and reversed on a replay” – AJ McCarron on playing hurt

McCarron, without prompting, then turned to the issue of the Senior Bowl. Remember that game? The one it seemed like every Alabama fan was bashing him about? Would you have bashed him if you knew his NFL career was the on the line due to an injury he had put off taking care of in order to finish his last season with The Crimson Tide? Before you answer I will go ahead and assume you would have been a bit kinder to him and much more sympathetic to his situation. He told Ryan he did not play in the Senior Bowl because of his injury.

I was told as a child to never judge a book by its cover. While some of this information was known to the public very little of it was and I think we all decided to judge a book by its cover instead of being patient and reading the story inside. So, how do you feel about AJ McCarron now?

The link to the podcast of interview will be posted here as soon as it is posted on the radio’s website.

You can connect with Ryan Fowler on Twitter and his show, The Game, on Twitter as well. The show airs every weekday from 5-8 PM on Tide 99.1 FM.