Former Alabama football tight end wins Super Bowl ring

Alabama football adds another Super Bowl champ to the record books.

There are plenty of ways to define success in this era of college football. While Alabama football is near the top of the list in most ways, one key is the ability to turn college prospects into NFL winners. That includes a volume of players being drafted, but it also matters that those players are winning with their new teams.

Plenty of Alabama football players have contributed on Super Bowl teams, although they have seen varying roles. Dont’a Hightower has been a leader for many championship teams with the New England Patriots. Last year, Gehrig Dieter won a ring despite being a bench warmer for the majority of the year.

This year, O.J. Howard won a Super Bowl ring with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was the only player with Alabama football ties to win a ring. This is his first championship since he contributed to the Crimson Tide’s title run in 2015.

While Howard has won a ring, he was not available for the Bucs for the majority of this season. Unfortunately, an injury earlier this year placed him on the injured reserve. He was out for the season, so the Bucs had to play around that loss. With the emergence of Gronkowski as the season progressed, the loss of Howard was minimized.

It was tough to watch a Super Bowl without the presence of many Alabama football players. After the recent success of the Patriots, many fans were used to seeing at least one Alabama player on the field in every Super Bowl.

Still, a former player with Alabama football ties will earn a ring thanks to his contributions to the Bucs this season. With an unfamiliar team winning the Super Bowl, that also means that a new player has won his first Super Bowl ring.

With a new NFL draft class on the way, there will be plenty of new players ready to contribute to winning teams. Perhaps another Alabama football player will win their first ring in Super Bowl LVI.