Defensive back Siran Neal learned something growing up along the Alabama-Georgia line that has served him well through six seasons in the NFL.

“I went to high school in Alabama, but I’m mostly from Fort Gaines, Georgia,” Neal said, “so I really have to claim both sides because half of my life I was in Georgia through seventh grade and the other half I was in Alabama. It’s pretty much the same because it’s right across the water, right across the bridge.

“Growing up in Alabama, it’s really country. But it’s tough. It’s tough love. One thing people don’t know about the country is it’s really a lot of competition. It’s tough growing up in the country. It taught me about life, and it taught me how to attack life and not let life attack me. It made me who I am today.”

Neal earned honorable-mention All-State recognition as a wide receiver at Abbeville High School in 2011. In 2012, he was first-team All-State in the athlete slot at Eufaula High School.

Neal concentrated on cornerback at Jacksonville State, where he played in the 2015 NCAA FCS championship game and earned a spot on the 2017 American Football Coaches Association’s NCAA FCS All-American team.

Neal was talking about his upbringing this week after signing a one-year contract with the Miami Dolphins as an NFL free agent.

He wasn’t supposed to be a free agent this offseason. Neal had one season remaining on a three-year, $9 million contract extension signed in 2022. But on March 6, the Buffalo Bills sliced about $26 million from their salary-cap obligations for the 2024 season by releasing five players,including Neal.

The Dolphins targeted special-teams improvement when they signed Neal. Since he entered the NFL as a fifth-round draft selection in 2018, only three players in the league have more special-teams plays with one team than Neal’s 1,714 in regular-season play with the Bills.

“I’m very passionate about it,” Neal said of special-teams play. “And me, logistically, a lot of guys on special teams don’t really get praise for what they do. One thing I know is special teams is really huge when it comes to the NFL games. Special-teams play can either win a game or lose a game. That’s one thing I know about it. And that’s on every phase. Like pinning the ball where it needs to be for the offense or defense to get set up to be successful.”

Danny Crossman, Miami’s special-teams coordinator, held that position with Buffalo during Neal’s rookie season before joining the Dolphins in 2019.

“Danny is my boy,” Neal said. “I had Danny my rookie year when I came in with Buffalo. Danny is really a passionate coach, too. He really loves the game. He really loves being that coach and really loves his players. That’s one thing that me and Danny over the years, we kept in contact and kept a close relationship through this whole process. Every time we played him, like I told him yesterday, I always wanted to make him smile and see what he’s going to say at the end of the game.”

Neal said Crossman played a big part in his decision to join an AFC East rival of the team with which he’d spent his entire NFL career.

“Just getting the opportunity to come down and talk to Danny about everything, he was more excited to have me than I’ve ever seen before,” Neal said. “When I came through the door, his face lit up. That’s one thing he did as soon as I walked into the door. I just knew when he saw me that he was happy to see me. He did everything in his will power to have me. That’s one thing I loved about it. Once I saw that, I knew if he would go to war for me, when it’s time for the kickoff or it’s time for the season to start or even during OTAs when we have to report back, I’m going to do whatever I have to do to fight for him.”

Neal is three away from becoming the fourth Jacksonville State alumnus to play in 100 NFL regular-season games, following Terry Owens, Jesse Baker and Eric Davis.

Neal also has played in 10 postseason games with Buffalo, including five victories. Miami’s most recent playoff victory came on Dec. 30, 2000, and the Dolphins have six postseason losses since that win.

Neal said preparing for playoff success begins months before the season kick offs.

“You can’t wait until it gets here,” Neal said. “The time is now. It starts now. It starts in the offseason. It starts when the team gets back in OTAs. It starts with the competitive nature throughout the OTAs. It starts where the team’s bonding. It starts there. …

“It’s time to go to work. I’m excited to go to work. I’m excited for the opportunity. I thank the Dolphins and Fins Nation for welcoming me in. The time is now. Once it starts off and when it kicks off in a couple weeks, from that to the time the season ends, we’re going to really work for it. No matter the ups and downs — there’s always going to be ups and downs — we’re going to pick up each other. We’re going to pick up all our brothers. Nobody is better than nobody, and we understand that we’re all in this thing together. Once we do all that and we team-bond and we come together, I’m pretty sure we’re going to get a lot done.”

Buffalo has won the AFC East for four seasons in a row. Miami most recently entered the playoffs as the division’s No. 1 team in 2008.

During Neal’s six seasons with the Bills, Buffalo posted a 64-34 regular-season record and went 5-5 in the playoffs. In that same six-year span, the Dolphins had a 51-48 regular-season record and an 0-2 playoff mark.

But an even greater contrast might be the weather between Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, and Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

“Being in South Florida, I’m pretty sure it’s going to be hot, which is cool with me,” Neal said. “It can’t be worse than Buffalo, because Buffalo was really, really cold.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.