BAMA has been competing with every team in the NCAA for over a hundred years for the elite talent in college football and is doing just fine. I would say that BAMA just accumulated more talent than the aggies if you look at recruiting and the amount of talent that just came through the transfer portal. As far as the media storm, as Steve Spurrier said best about Jimbo Fisher, "Did Saban say something that wasn't true"? The SEC commish stated bluntly in his response, "We're seeing just straight payments."
Of course, they are.
Listen, you can go fvck yourself with "Spurrier's comments". He's another SEC apologist. Same with your corrupt commissioner. You don't get to bootstrap Saban's lies into "truth" by a couple of SEC apologists making apologies for what Saban said.
What Nick Saban said is what is at issue, not "what other people said about what Nick Saban said". Nor is it important what Nick Saban said LATER on his apology tour.
Let's go to the tape.
1.
"A&M bought every player on their team" - LIE. First, the school is not paying for NIL. Even if you make the argument that an aTm Collective spent a bunch of NIL money, the reports only relate to the recruiting class, not the entire roster.
2.
"We didn't buy one player" - LIE. First, Alabama has been illegally buying players FOR DECADES. But even if you want to limit this to an apples-to-apples comparison, let's break this down. Saban immediately preceded this comment by saying aTm "bought every player on their team". Do returning players (guys already on the roster) count? Because if so, SABAN HAD JUST BRAGGED ABOUT ALABAMA PLAYERS MAKING $3 MILLION IN NIL LAST YEAR. So, legally or illegally, Saban JUST ADMITTED to buying existing roster players. "Oh, but that's not what Saban meant, he was talking about recruits". OK, then let's focus on recruits. Again, Saban JUST ADMITTED that Alabama had a collective. Is he trying to claim that NONE of the Alabama recruits are going to get NIL deals? Because we all know that isn't true. Wait, wait, I guess that it is POSSIBLE that Saban's comments are not a lie, in the sense that Alabama didn't buy ONE player, they bought EIGHTY-FIVE players, but that's a technicality.
3.
"But I don't know if we're going to be able to sustain that in the future because more and more people are doing it" - TRUTH. Saban is admitting that he's not going to be able to refrain from "not buying one player" (in and of itself, a lie) because of, I guess, peer pressure.
4.
"We are where we are, alright, because the litigation that the NCAA gets" - LIE. The Alston case was NOT NOT NOT an NIL case. It was a case involving academic achievement benefits PROVIDED DIRECTLY BY THE UNIVERSITY. The NCAA then VOLUNTARILY, and not as a result of a court order, changed the rules to allow NIL.
5.
"Yada yada yada" (some nonsense about the NCAA not giving transfer kids a waiver, and then the kids would file lawsuits, and then the NCAA would back off) - LIE. Obviously, Saban is trying to deflect criticism from his partner in crime, Mark Emmert. Yes, some players would appeal the denial of a trasfer waiver, and would do so before the NCAA. Nick Saban cannot point to any string of "you denied my waiver, I'm filing a federal lawsuit" cases. Furthermore, just as the Alston case is NOT an NIL case, so too is "the Portal" not the same as NIL. What Nick Saban is trying to do is lull you into thinking one thing is the same as a completely different thing, when that is not the case.
6.
"****, read about it in the paper, I mean Jackson State paid a guy a million dollars last year that was a really good Division I player to come to school, it was in the paper, and they bragged about it; nobody did anything about it." - LIE AFTER LIE AFTER LIE. First, Nick Saban tries to tell you TWICE that this story was in the paper, yet it wasn't. There was internet speculation about what Travis Hunter was offered to choose Jackson State, but no "paper" ever reported definitively and with proof that Hunter was paid a particular sum. Why? Because "papers" don't do that, since they know they would open themselves up to defamation lawsuits if they did so with no proof, no sources, and no verification. More importantly (and as stated above), it was never alleged by anyone ("papers" or internet sites) that "Jackson State" paid Travis Hunter anything, the rumors have always involved BARSTOOL SPORTS. As for the "million dollars" sum, where is Saban's proof? Now that NIL is LEGAL, there is NO INCENTIVE for Barstool Sports or Travis Hunter to commit multiple felonies by NOT disclosing the payment. Furthermore, Travis Hunter was NOT "a really good Division I player", he was a high school student. Additionally, there was no "bragging" about Jackson State paying Travis Hunter a million dollars. NOWHERE. Finally, "nobody did anything about it". ABOUT WHAT, Nicky? The "bragging"? Or the payment that Jackson State never made? What do you want your buddy Mark Emmert to do about the hurt and pain you suffered from JACKSON STATE?
7.
"I mean, these guys at Miami that are going there to play basketball for $400,000, it's in the newspaper, the guy tells you how he's doing it...so, um, but the NCAA can't enforce their rules because it's not against the law." - LIE. There are not "guys" plural that are getting paid $400,000. There was ONE person, Nijel Pack, whose NIL deal was announced publicly. It was not in the newspaper, it was a tweet to the entire world. And the NCAA ABSOLUTELY can enforce its rules, but "the guy" (John Ruiz) is BOTH following the spirit and letter of the NIL rules AND obeying the laws of the State of Florida.
Simply stated, Nick Saban is a liar. He told two minutes worth of lies and is acting like he didn't. And you yourself are trying to wallpaper over his lies with some comments that Steve Spurrier and the SEC Commissioner made. Which makes you a liar too.