Even if you're not a fan of Alabama football, you most likely tune in every week in hopes of watching the Crimson Tide fail. Alabama's level of dominance over the last nearly two decades has birthed a lot of haters across the country who are tired of seeing Alabama at the top. Those haters aren't just opposing fans, either. There are plenty in the national media who love to spin negative narratives about the program.
There's a reason Alabama is the most-watched team in college football this season. That's not just because of Tide fans; it's a lot of folks tuning in to hate-watch, hoping to see an Alabama loss so they can hop on Al Gore's internet and launch ridiculous takes about Alabama being nothing without Nick Saban.
The players are intimately aware of that fact. Perhaps none more so than fifth-year senior LB Deontae Lawson, who has been through it all in Tuscaloosa. He joined Alabama after the program's last National Championship in 2020, which was probably the best team of the Saban era at Alabama.
He spent three years under Saban's Alabama and the last two under DeBoer and the new staff. One thing hasn't changed, and that's the standard to which the Crimson Tide strives to play.
That standard has led Alabama to seven straight wins, much to the chagrin of the haters. Alabama emerged from the depths of despair that followed an embarrassing Week 1 loss and now sits exactly where it hoped to be at the start of November.
For Lawson and his teammates, they use being the villain as motivation.
"They can't wait to see Alabama fall," Lawson told reporters this week. "So, that's really the main message, and that's how you keep your edge. Just know that they wanna say something bad about you, but don't give them a reason to."
Deontae Lawson is motivated to keep the haters quiet
It's been a long road back to the field for Lawson. He envisioned last season being his final one in Tuscaloosa before jumping to the NFL, but plans were changed when he tore his ACL against Oklahoma in November of last year.
Instead of prepping for the draft, Lawson was rehabbing to get back on the field and end his Alabama career on his own terms. It hasn't been easy, and he had to endure some early struggles this season as he rounded back to form, but as the Crimson Tide enters the stretch run of the season, Lawson is hitting his stride.
He played his best game of the season two weeks ago against South Carolina. He finished with seven tackles, pressured LaNorris Sellers four times, and came up with the game-saving strip of Sellers in the 4th quarter that set up Germie Bernard's game-winning touchdown run.
The Alabama captain is beginning to look like his pre-injury self. That's a significant development for the Tide's defense.