And there’s yet another headline I never imagined I’d actually have to type out.
A couple of weeks ago, Nick Saban confirmed that Dakota Bell would be sidelined indefinitely after accidentally shooting his finger in a hunting accident. As it turns out, that was a very benign description of what actually transpired.
Speaking with the media ahead of Alabama’s College Football Playoff semifinal against Washington, the backup defensive lineman revealed that he shot off the entire index finger on his left hand with a 12-gauge shotgun. The accident occurred in Georgia while Ball was on a hunting trip with a friend just prior to practices for the Peach Bowl kicking off.
Bell explained the sequence of events that led to the digit being “completely gone” and the aftermath. From al.com:“I was tying a rope around the barrel and around the stock to keep the shotgun from falling out of my lap,” Ball said. “I was tying rope around the barrel and it just went off. I didn’t have my hand on the trigger.”
There was a brief moment of disbelief.
At first he thought he had shot through the middle of his hand. Then he saw the index finger “hanging by a piece of skin.”
They rushed back to his buddy’s house on the four-wheeler and drove straight to the hospital. Ball can’t remember how long it took.
“At first it wasn’t painful but once we got to the hospital, that’s when it started hurting -- when my adrenaline started wearing off,” Ball said. “Then it got pretty bad.”
And there was no hope for the finger.
“They had to go down and cut the bone out,” Ball said, “two inches down.”
Bell confirmed that he will not be playing in Saturday’s game. He also confirmed that he will not be giving up his guns permanently, but that he’ll “take a break from them for a little bit.”
A senior, Bell seemingly left the door open for his availability for the national championship game should the Tide beat the Huskies this weekend.