Alabama’s Jermaine Burton seeing anger management counselor after UT female fan video, Chris Fowler reports
Alabama receiver Jermaine Burton has been seeing anger-management counselors after a video appears to show him hitting a female Tennessee fan after Vols fans rushed the field last week, ESPN reported Saturday.
Burton, who played for the Tide on Saturday against Mississippi State, caught a 23-yard pass from Bryce Young to convert a third down in the second quarter.
“Burton was the guy that felt he was in danger when those fans at Tennessee rushed the field,” Fowler said. “He reached out with his hand, and he shoved a female Tennessee student. It caused a big uproar. It was posted on her TikTok and (Alabama coach Nick) Saban elected not to discipline him in terms of suspension for the game. He preferred to handle it internally.
“He paid some price but able to play here tonight. They got him working with anger management counselors.”
Fowler added that Saban “is hoping” Burton will learn to control his emotions better. “It’s a tough situation when fans rush the field,” Fowler said.
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Vols fans rushed the field after Tennessee upset Alabama 52-29.
Saban issued a statement earlier this week.
“We are aware of the situation with Jermaine Burton as he was exiting the field Saturday,” read a statement from Nick Saban released through UA media relations Wednesday. “We are currently working to gather more information.”
On Wednesday, he added to his comments.
“We handle discipline issues internally, and that’s the way we’ll handle this,” Saban said. “But as I said today when I was asked about the whole (how) the league is trying to control people rushing the field. It’s a difficult circumstance for the league. It’s a difficult circumstance for the people who are on the field. But we got to go through those difficult circumstances and still respect other people. And I think that’s on us to do that, and that’s certainly a lesson for all of us to learn relative to this.”
Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.