ether79
Down but not out!
I think people are making to much out of the negatives of this whole thing. Worse case scenario he fails another drug test or quits again. Now in that case what happens? A probable media circus, which happened last year and we finished 4-12. I don't think the players will be any worse off this year we have a #2 overall pick to fall back on, only possibly Saban image for allowing him to come back. This time it wouldn't be as bad as last year be we finally have highly qualified coaches, a more talented team, and seemingly good depth at RB. I don't believe Saban is basing the WHOLE offense around Ricky(maybe 10-20 plays).Ok then, so whats the upside? Ricky might be able to get back some of that 2002 form and add another wrinkle defenses have to gameplan for. Maybe it's possible Ricky has a good season (700yrds, 7-8tds on limited PT)shows other teams in the league he does still have the talent to produce in this league and then come next draft we get something out him, whatever the compensation 3, 4th rounder just something. Maybe Saban keeps him the next year, who knows. IMO the upside outweighs the downside. The ONLY people who should've had a voice in him coming back were the players that he bailed out on last season and I'm sure Saban gave them a voice in this matter before he decided to let Ricky come back. I'm neutral in this argument, but if the players don't mind having him back then neither do I. He let me down as a fan, as a person who bleeds aqua and orange and I hated him for that, but what he did to the Fins players was definitely more personal than what he did to us as fans. If they're up for the ramifications of what could happen allowing him back then so am I. I'm a little drunk here so thats the best I could do at the moment explaining my take.