Former SEC star gives Alabama fans and Bryant-Denny Stadium major respect

From his 1,000-yard freshman season, Christian Kirk was immediately prolific for Texas A&M. The former star Aggie finished his three-year career with 2,856 receiving yards and 26 touchdowns before embarking on his NFL journey. Now, back in Texas with the Houston Texans, Kirk shared his thoughts on the best environments in college football and gave Alabama some love. 

Kirk, on his third NFL team – following a four-year stint with the Arizona Cardinals, then three with the Jacksonville Jaguars – named Bryant-Denny Stadium one of the five best atmospheres in college football, and the third best in the SEC. While that’s maybe not where Tide fans themselves would have ranked the stadium in Tuscaloosa, it’s not a bad spot on the list of a former SEC star who never beat Alabama. 

Christian Kirk names Alabama the 5th-best environment in college football

Kirk faced the Crimson Tide three times in his career at Texas A&M, finishing 0-3, but just one of those meetings took place in Tuscaloosa, a 33-14 Crimson Tide victory in his sophomore season in 2016. Kirk caught nine passes for 58 yards in the loss and added 34 yards in the return game, then serving as the Aggies' kick and punt returner. 

Of course, Kirk ranked Kyle Field as the best environment in college football, how could he not, but the only other SEC program included on his list was, of course, LSU. Kirk and his Aggies didn’t fare much better in Death Valley, going 0-3 against the Tigers in his career and 0-2 in Baton Rouge. 

Fairly or not, LSU carries the reputation as the most difficult place to play in the SEC. Alabama doesn’t always crack this type of list because the thought is always about how impressive the product on the field is, instead of how rowdy the fanbase gets in support. However, Bryant-Denny has been a tougher place for SEC opponents and proved that wasn’t just the Nick Saban factor last year when Kalen DeBoer’s first iteration of the Tide took down Georgia at home in Week 5. 

Kirk’s Texas A&M teams didn’t beat Alabama during his career, because almost nobody did in the mid-2010s. And maybe most Tide fans don’t need former players from other SEC teams to shout them out because the national titles that their team won during that stretch do most of the talking. But isn’t a little tip of the cap from a vanquished opponent always nice?