Ty Simpson didn't need to do anything else than what he did on the field this season to be remembered as an Alabama legend. Sure, this season didn't end with the confetti falling in Miami as he dreamed, but Simpson captained a playoff team.
He also set himself apart to begin with by sticking around in Tuscaloosa for four years, resisting the urge of the Transfer Portal in an era when most players don't want to sit on the bench for a single season, much less three.
So it's fitting that, on the way out the door and into the NFL, Simpson had to resist those temptations one more time. And in doing so, he further cemented his Alabama legacy.
In an era of mercenaries, Simpson cared more about being remembered as an Alabama quarterback than the ridiculous amount of money being thrown around to entice him into the portal.
“Everybody would just remember me as the guy who took all this money and went to Miami or Tennessee for his last year," Simpson told On3's Chris Low. "But I was a captain. I put my hand and footprints in the cement at Denny Chimes. I would have lost everything that I built at Alabama.”
Ty Simpson chose his Alabama legacy over a massive payday
Even rival fans can't help but admire Simpson for that. He was reportedly offered as much as $6.5 million by Miami to enter the Transfer Portal. But no amount of money is worth more than what Alabama meant to him.
Simpson is the last of a dying breed of players. But maybe he gives hope for a different future for the sport. The Transfer Portal is a good thing, in theory, but it is used and abused at a level that was never intended. Programs blatantly tampering with players at the level Simpson was isn't good for the sport.
And it wouldn't be good for the sport to see a team captain like Simpson, one whose hand and footprints will forever be in the cement outside of Denny Chimes, finish his collegiate career somewhere else.
It's the nature of this era of college football, but it's refreshing to see a player carve out a path that many wouldn't have chosen. It's even better because he's ours.
You can bank on Simpson's words resonating across the country. He'll be used as an example by coaches all over. And that's worth more than a paycheck.
Money disappears, but Simpson is an Alabama legend forever.