As the Alabama Crimson Tide gets set to kick off its season Saturday afternoon against the Florida State Seminoles, they are doing so with a new quarterback at the helm of the offense for the first time in two years.
In today’s day and age when it’s as rare as it’s ever been, Ty Simpson sat on the bench and patiently waited three years for his turn to play, growing and developing his way towards this moment and now getting ready to make his first ever start.
During this week’s edition of Hey Coach, fans got a better glimpse at Simpson. The quarterback spoke about his Christian faith and cited legendary Florida Gators’ Heisman winner and national champion Tim Tebow as his football role model.
Not only was Tebow someone Simpson looked up to on the field, but off the field as well.
“I loved the way that he played, how passionate he was and how outspoken he was about his faith. I thought that was really cool,” Simpson said of Tebow on the show. “It’s something that I want to be, now that I’m on this platform now. I want people to know, hey, I’m a Christian first and then I’m a football player. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my Lord and savior Jesus Christ.”
Simpson also spoke about how his father Jason, longtime head coach of UT Martin, help build his talent as a player — as well as grow his faith in God.
“Growing up, him being a coach is what I want to be one day,” he said of his father. “The way that I saw him be in his program every day, see him talk to his guys just about, one, being a Christian — just giving the Word to other guys has been really cool to me. Another thing is how passionate he is about football. We both love the game, it kind of brought us together.”
As he finally takes the field as QB1 on Saturday, Simpson says he’ll do so for an audience of One, hoping to make his teammates, family, and state proud.
Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP and hear him every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5, available free online.
