Nick Saban told the media after practice on Tuesday that he was giving freshly-departed Kenny Bell a ‘personal day’ and that he expected the wide receiver to return to practice with the team on Wednesday.
“Kenny’s a fifth-year senior, he’s done a great job in this program, he’s played a lot of good football for us, he’s made a lot of big plays, he’s been a good teammate to a lot of guys on the team. He’s certainly somebody I have a tremendous amount of respect for as a competitor,” Saban said. “Sometimes we have personal things that we need to get ironed out.
“He had a day today to do that so there’s really nothing else to talk about when it comes to that.”
Bell had sent a series of tweets on Tuesday afternoon that he was leaving the team and quitting football.
“I know I’m going to lose so many friends and followers and get more negative talk from people but truth is I [don’t] care,” Bell stated, “[I].t’s been a nice run but I’m hanging up my cleats. … time too [sic] focus on my responsibilities MY KIDS.
“I’ve made so many memories here @ Alabama but some things you gotta let go. Salute to the team y’all keep grinding and win that championship.”
It appears Saban can be quite persuasive, though, as Bell didn’t stick with his decision very long. The turnaround by Bell allows the Tide receiving corps to retain a veteran presence, something it’s sure to need as the program guns for its third-straight BCS title.
Update: Not long after this story was posted, Bell tweeted the following:
“I’m back with the team!! Just needed time to myself for a day but I couldn’t leave my boy @10AJMcCarron we ended this run together.”
So there you go.