Alabama defensive back Terrion Arnold wasn’t sure what to make of the rat traps placed around the University of Alabama’s football facilities. “It was wooden, had a little cheese right there,” he said. “I’m kind of an adventurer, so I put my hand in there to see if it really worked, and it really worked. … I did get popped, right here on my finger.” The symbolic rat trap reminder warns players of the distraction that success can be. After years of Alabama squads receiving praise, accolades, and respect that comes with joyless murderball, this team is different.

The Crimson Tide is making football fun again.

To begin the season, there were unknowns. That was a new feeling for fans of the Tide. We didn’t know who the quarterback would be for the first time in forever. The elite receivers were a little more difficult to spot. The Tide brought in the offensive coordinator from perennially overrated Notre Dame who wasn’t old enough to drive when Nick Saban took the helm at the Capstone.

And Coach Saban was even smiling. The horror. Then the Texas game happened.

The Longhorns came to Bryant-Denny and left with a 34-24 win. It would be nice to say the team bounced back against UCF. It was more like a motorcyclist getting hit by a truck, skittering across the pavement and then screaming, “I’m alive!” as he comes to a stop in the grassy median.

The ensuing games were a rollercoaster. Up and down and back and forth. Quarterback Jalen Milroe would throw a bomb for a touchdown and then we’d completely blow coverage on the next possession. The offensive line was either a juggernaut or Swiss cheese. The Tide faithful weren’t even sure what would happen with the center’s snap.

This Alabama team is human. On any given week, these players and coaches could lose. The team hoped to “let all the naysayers know (LANK).” After ten straight wins, the College Football Playoff Committee remains unconvinced.

But they haven’t.

I don’t know about LANK. I do know resilience when I see it. It’s a virtue I teach the four young men in my own home. When my sons want to quit, we press on. Whether it’s at school, work, parenting, or sports, everyone I know wants to be great. Few are willing to do what is required. Our critics and doubters play games in our heads. The results we want don’t come quickly enough. We start to feel sorry for ourselves. Before the exam, interview, or first snap, we’re already defeated.

In football as in life, success begins with imperfectly grinding, digging, and clawing for every inch. “Sometimes doing your best is not good enough,” Sir Winston Churchill famously stated, “Sometimes you must do what is required.” This season, my family has watched Alabama do what it needed to win. Coach Saban popped a blood vessel or two. Coach Tommy Rees began calling the plays for the players he had in front of him. Dallas Turner began breaking things, most notably Vols and Tigers. We could literally hear the change in Milroe’s “Roll Tide!” from one game to the next.

That unfamiliar sensation is joy, my friends.

My family made it down to Tuscaloosa for the LSU game. Before kickoff, my dad took the field with his 1973 teammates. My boys watched Pops on the big screen and cheered their hearts out. Three generations of Smiths experienced one of the most electric environments in all the years we’ve been cheering for the Tide. The last time I recall a stadium that loud, we made Tim Tebow cry.

The “rat poison” of praise for this Alabama Team is in short supply. Maybe that’s why Arnold wasn’t sure if the trap was real. The Iron Bowl is always a test. Even if this team survives the agricultural voodoo that bewitches Jordan-Hare, they’re expected to be Georgia’s speed bump on the Bulldog’s path to another national championship.

This Alabama team is supposed to be the end of a dynasty. Alabama could fumble against Auburn. Georgia’s juggernaut could run over the Tide. I’m not Butch Jones. I don’t believe in life championships. Sometimes our best truly isn’t good enough. We’ll finish strong and come back next year.

If these players and coaches do what is required, the team that couldn’t measure up to Alabama’s standards will shock the college football world.

Football is fun again. The Crimson Tide has a heartbeat. Now all we need is someone to keep Arnold from putting his finger in the rat traps.

More Cameron Smith columns:

Smith is a recovering political attorney with four boys, two dogs, a bearded dragon, and an extremely patient wife. He’s a partner in a media company, a business strategy wonk, and a regular on talk radio. Please direct outrage or agreement to [email protected] or @DCameronSmith on X or @davidcameronsmith on Threads.