Nick Saban sends jet for Pete Rose to speak to Alabama football on gambling, per agency
Nick Saban is making good on his promise to bring in speakers to address off-the-field issues with the Alabama football team ahead of the 2023 season. And with a little panache, he’s gotten infamous baseball player Pete Rose headed to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to speak with the Crimson Tide.
Rose is of course famous for his lifetime ban from Major League Baseball as a result of sports gambling. With a number of sports wagering scandals hitting college athletics — including the Alabama baseball team — in the last calendar year, it’s no surprise to see Saban taking up this tact.
Saban got Rose to Tuscaloosa in style, too, dispatching the university jet at his disposal to chauffeur Rose from Houston back to Alabama.
“Thank you Coach Nick Saban for sending your personal Alabama jet to Houston and inviting Fiterman Sports and my Exclusive Client [Pete Rose] to the University of Alabama,” a tweet from Fiterman Sports, Rose’s representatives, said.
Earlier during fall camp, Saban addressed his desire to bring in these types of speakers in for his team. It evident that Rose is among the ideal candidates to address the Crimson Tide about the pitfalls of sports wagering as an athlete and hopefully impart the lesson about how long the consequences can run.
“Well, we try to get the best speakers that we possibly can that address issues that we’re facing in college football,” Saban said. “As well as people who can help create a mindset that’s going to help you be more consistent, so that you can get the results that you want, relative to the commitments that you make. I think we have a really good blend of all those types of people. Obviously, you guys know what the issues are. And you know, if you look at players that are suspended for whether it’s gambling, drugs, and alcohol, whatever, so those are all things that we’re trying to educate players on, relative to consequences of good and bad behavior cause and effect.”
Saban continued that each player is different but the consequences of bad decisions are a domino effect. So the Alabama coach really wanted to get that message across to his team.
“Because we don’t want anybody to suffer negative consequences that might have an impact and affect their brand and that all goes to the choices and decisions that they make,” Saban said. “And if we can impact those through education with good speakers, that’s the goal of what we try to do throughout the year. But it’s the same thing, it’s more condensed in fall camp.”
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