Loyalty in today's college football environment is a rare thing that should be celebrated. Former Alabama QB Jalen Milroe was loyal to the Crimson Tide when he didn't have to be.
In a recent interview with former Alabama DBs Pat Surtain II and Terrion Arnold on their Closed on Sundays podcast, Milroe shared the ridiculous money being thrown at him to transfer away from the Crimson Tide in the immediate aftermath of Nick Saban's stunning retirement.
Regardless of the struggles Milroe had during his lone season working under Kalen DeBoer, though there were plenty of highs there, too, he was one of the biggest-named returning quarterbacks in 2024.
In his first season as the Alabama starter in 2023, which proved to be Saban's last, Milroe finished sixth in Heisman Trophy voting and led Alabama to an SEC Championship and a berth in the four-team College Football Playoff. The Tide fell just short in overtime to eventual national champion Michigan in Pasadena.
Milroe could have written his own ticket that offseason. The sharks circled Tuscaloosa in the aftermath of Saban's retirement like there was chum in the water. Milroe was one of the biggest fish, but he rebuffed offers upward of $2.5 million to stay at Alabama.
"I was offered so much money to leave, like from any school I wanted to go to," Milroe said. "I'm talking about more than $2.5 million. It would've been easy to just leave, go chase that dollar sign, play one more year in college. ...I don't even know who our coach is gonna be. Day by day, this person is in the portal, I don't even know who is going to be on offense. A lot of people are gonna criticize how we played in year one under Coach DeBoer, but a lot is involved with that. I thought it was the right decision to stay."
Jalen Milroe says he turned down $2.5 million+ to stay at Alabama after Nick Saban retired
Milroe didn't have the 2024 season that he or Alabama wanted, but he and the Saban holdovers should always be held in high esteem. They stayed when so many others left. They stayed because they loved the University of Alabama, and playing for the Crimson Tide meant more to them than the potential money they could have made elsewhere.
It's the same reason Ty Simpson is endeared in Tuscaloosa now and forever. He could have left, too, and could have entered the Transfer Portal this offseason instead of the draft when he had even bigger numbers being thrown at him by the likes of Miami, Tennessee, and Ole Miss.
It's easy to forget that Milroe could have done the same thing a year ago. He still had a season of eligibility remaining and was not the projected first-round pick that Simpson is. He could have made more money in the portal than he did by being drafted in the third round by the Seattle Seahawks. It could have improved his draft stock, too.
But like Simpson, Milroe, above all, wanted to be remembered as an Alabama quarterback. He should be applauded for it.