As Alabama gets set to tangle with Michigan State, we now (reportedly) know a little bit more behind why one Tide player won’t take part in the College Football Playoff semifinal.
Wednesday, Nick Saban announced in a statement that "[w]e have made an internal decision to send Tony Brown home due to a violation of team rules.” The defensive back had been practicing with his teammates in the run-up to the Cotton Bowl, and that’s apparently where the “violation of team rules” surfaced.
Citing sources, al.com‘s Matt Zenitz reported earlier today that Brown started a fight with an unnamed Tide defensive lineman during a practice session earlier this week. Zenitz adds that "[t]he decision to send Brown home was made by the Tide’s player leadership council,” which explains Saban’s statement labeling it as an “internal decision.”
Brown, a five-star 2014 signee, was arrested in mid-January of this year on charges of failure to obey and resisting arrest, although he managed to escape Saban’s doghouse and tie for the lead in special teams tackles this season. What if any impact this development will have on Brown’s future, given that off-field indiscretion, remains to be seen.