Alabama announced its team captains for the 2025 football season on Thursday, the second year in a row the captains were announced before the start of the season, a stark change from how things were done during the Nick Saban era. Under Saban, captains were always named after the season was over. Kalen DeBoer prefers to have the captains known prior to the season.
For the second consecutive year, teammates voted LB Deontae Lawson as a team captain. He'll be joined by fellow fifth-year senior Tim Keenan III, and two redshirt juniors - Ty Simpson and Parker Brailsford.
For Lawson, he joins rare company in Crimson Tide history as only the 11th player in program history who will have his hand and footprints in Denny Chimes in multiple seasons. The Alabama Walk of Fame at Denny Chimes began in 1948, but for the first 52 years of the tradition of having team captains immortalized with their hand and footprints in cement, team captains were always seniors in their final season of collegiate eligibility.
In 2001, QB Tyler Watts and DL Jarrett Johnson became the first juniors in Alabama football history to be named team captains. They followed that up with captain Nods in 2002, becoming the first players in program history to be honored at Denny Chimes two years in a row. They weren't the first two-time captains, however, with four players in Alabama history earning that honor prior to Denny Chimes being erected: S.B. Sloane (1894 and 1896), W.E. Drennen (1900, 1901), W.S. Wyatt (1903, 1904), and Al Clemens (1921 and 1923).
Deontae Lawson one of 15 two-time captains in Alabama football history
Counting the four who earned the honor prior to the Alabama Walk of Fame, Lawson becomes the 15th two-time team captain in Alabama football history. He'll be just the 11th to be immortalized twice at Denny Chimes.
Watts and Johnson were the only two-time captains in the Denny Chimes era prior to the Saban era at Alabama. Below is the complete list:
Tyler Watts (2001, 2002)
Jarrett Johnson (2001, 2002)
Rashad Johnson (2007, 2008)
Mark Barron (2010, 2011)
Dont'a Hightower (2010, 2011)
DeVonta Smith (2019, 2020)
Bryce Young (2021, 2022)
Will Anderson Jr. (2021, 2022)
Malachi Moore (2023, 2024)
Jalen Milroe (2023, 2024)
Deontae Lawson (2024, 2025)