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Breakthrough Birmingham: Preparing students for college and careers

Makenzy Howard, a 16-year-old Ramsay High School student, credits Breakthrough Birmingham with introducing her to a new world.

“Breakthrough has helped me become a better person mentally and physically by either giving me a mentor or just having one-on-one experiences,” Howard said. “I also feel like Breakthrough has helped me mature more … because I used to be shy and didn’t know how to communicate and express myself, but throughout the years I have opened up a lot and changed.”

Howard has been with Breakthrough since 2022 and counts among her favorite memories a tour of Vanderbilt University in Nashville. “The experience was so fun, and our teaching fellows made us feel comfortable in the college environment,” she said.

Breakthrough Birmingham is a non-profit education organization that focuses on addressing educational inequities and preparing students for college and careers.

Since 2013 the organization has allowed not only students like Howard, but young teachers, to achieve post-secondary success while empowering aspiring leaders to become the next generation of educators and advocates. It’s a free school-year program for middle schoolers (6th-8th grade) including field trips, clubs, and tutoring; plus an Explore U program for high schoolers (9th-12th grade) offering similar resources.

“We work with underrepresented students from Birmingham City Schools and Talladega [City Schools] to close summer learning loss gaps and bridge summer learning experiences into the school year,” said Caroline Kendrick, communications associate.

In addition, undergraduate students from around the country get an opportunity to serve as teachers and mentors to the students as well.

Jourdan Elliott knows firsthand the impact that Breakthrough can have on the students and teachers. Elliott currently serves as the recruitment coordinator for Breakthrough, a role she started in 2023. Before that she served as a teacher fellow with the organization in the summer of 2022.

“For about nine weeks, I was able to build bonds with a diverse group of people when it came to our [students], it came to our families, it came to our teaching fellows and our staff,” she said.

For example, the group had college students who were nursing majors who taught for a summer, “not because they wanted to teach … but because they knew what they could do for the community.”

Earlier this year, Breakthrough was selected as one of eight community partners by Outschool.org that supported distributing $500 scholarships to 76 local Breakthrough students for technology, sports, music, and more.

Mariohn Michel, executive director with Breakthrough Birmingham for the past seven years, said her focus is, “to make sure that we’re building the vision for what is possible for our organization and the communities that they serve.”

With 15 on staff, Michel said that she and her team are “building an army of folks who are focused on what the best version of Alabama looks like.”

Originally from Miami, Florida, Michel made her way to Eutaw, Alabama in 2011, working with Teach for America Alabama before moving to New York City.

Michel said she spent four years teaching there before returning to Alabama.

Michel graduated magna cum laude from Florida International University with a B.S. in Secondary Social Studies Education. She currently serves on the Teach for America Alabama Alumni Board.

The best part of her job is hearing the testimonies of parents who experience growth with their children through Breakthrough, Michel said.

“Last year, I was at an event as a guest, and I didn’t realize that one of our parents was there. I was talking to someone next to me and I felt a tap on my shoulder. It turned out it was a parent of one of our students. She was gushing because her kid — normally the shy, reserved kid — is now getting so many friends, his confidence was growing, and he was just thriving so much.

“It’s stories like that, how we’re watching kids really blossom into their full selves.”

Another parent pleased with Breakthrough is Sadelia Hayward, whose 8th-grade son Gavin Hayward will graduate Phillips Academy on May 27 and head to Ramsay High School in August.

“What stood out to me about Breakthrough Birmingham was the intentional focus on the scholar’s academic growth, leadership development, and the support system the team offers to both the students and parents,” Hayward said. “I appreciated that the program didn’t just focus on the theory inside the classrooms but focused on the whole child, their potential and their future.”

She added, “Gavin has grown not only academically but socially and emotionally as well. He has become more confident, curious, and motivated about learning new things …

“I would say this: that Breakthrough Birmingham is more than a program, it’s a community that will walk with you and your child every step of the way. It’s a space where your child will be challenged, celebrated, and seen. If you want to invest in your child’s future, this is the place to start.”

For more visit Breakthrough Birmingham.

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‘Embarrassment for Homewood:’ Cars sit for years at City Hall, parking area is trashy, critics say

Dust-covered cars are taking up limited spaces in Homewood City Hall’s underground parking garage. Residents say something needs to be done.

Homewood officials are working to improve access to parking across the city, including maintenance to existing lots and analyzing where frequent traffic congestion can be relieved.

But some residents say there are other pressing problems that need to be addressed.

“Cars have been abandoned there for way more than 24 hours without any action being taken. Some have been parked in the same spots for years without being moved. People complain about parking in Homewood and here is something where action could be taken to free up space,” Robert O’Neal Holloway, a Homewood resident, said in a recent Facebook post.

“Also the trash that has not been cleaned up for months (sometimes years) in the city hall parking garage should be an embarrassment for Homewood.”

Meanwhile, maintenance above the city hall parking deck, which began on April 22 and is expected to last for another month, has caused disruptions in parking for drivers, causing them to use the garage more frequently.

Parking in Homewood has been a persistent problem that officials have long seen the need to improve, according to the city’s 2018 master plan.

“Visitors to downtown businesses routinely complain that they cannot find convenient parking during daytime lunch hours. Business owners complain that they must police their lots so that their patrons and employees can use them,” the master plan states.

Glen Adams, Homewood’s city manager, said that fixing parking is not a simple process but he is working with the city on making improvements.

In response to the social media complaints, Adams said he and other Homewood officials have called tow trucks when complaints are made, picked up trash every day, worked with contractors to speed up the scheduled lot maintenance and discussed increased parking enforcement around city hall.

“You have a requirement to maintain your facilities when you’re a municipality, and as such, our city council has been on it to make sure that we maintain our grounds throughout the community,” Glen Adams, Homewood’s city manager, told AL.com in early May.

This is a promise that, he said, he intends to keep.

“Parking is a sensitive issue. It remains a sensitive issue,” Adams said in a recent interview. “We pay attention to it.”

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47-year-old convicted in beloved musician’s Birmingham motorcycle club shooting death

A 47-year-old man has been convicted in a 2022 shooting at a Birmingham motorcycle club that killed a well-known musician and injured two women.

Ernando Daron Dorsey was initially charged with murder in the Feb. 26, 2022, killing of 38-year-old Navari Deon Jones.

He was also charged with two counts of attempted murder for the wound of the two women.

A Jefferson County jury Thursday convicted Dorsey of provocation manslaughter, a Class B felony, and one count of first-degree assault.

A sentencing date has not yet been announced.

The trial was held before Jefferson County Circuit Judge Michael Streety.

Deputy District Attorney Blake Owens prosecuted the case. Dorsey was represented by attorneys Emory Anthony and Moses Stone.

The shooting happened at Tru-Riders Motorcycle Club.

Birmingham police responded just before 1 a.m. that Saturday to a report of someone shot at the motorcycle club on Reverend Abraham Woods Jr. Boulevard.

Officers arrived on the scene and found a woman suffering from a gunshot wound. She was taken to UAB Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

During the same time, police said, a Birmingham officer was at police headquarters when the officer heard a car crash in the 1700 block of First Avenue North.

The officer went to investigate and found Jones suffering from a gunshot wound. His vehicle had struck two other parked vehicles.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced Jones dead on the scene.

Friends said Jones was trying to get to the hospital when he wrecked.

Police learned a second woman showed up at UAB Hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.

Authorities said an altercation took place inside of the motorcycle club before shots were fired.

Jones was a father of six and a well-known drummer.

A member of the Sin City motorcycle club, Jones played drums for the band Ampliphied Noiz and had an endorsement deal with Soultone Cymbals out of Los Angeles.

Dorsey, who was out on bond pending trial, was booked in the Jefferson County Jail after the jury’s guilty verdict.

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Alabama football countdown to kickoff: No. 99, McCarron to Cooper

EDITOR’S NOTE: Every day until Aug. 29, Creg Stephenson is counting down significant numbers in Alabama football history, both in the lead-up to the 2025 football season and in commemoration of the Crimson Tide’s first national championship 100 years ago. The number could be attached to a year, a uniform number or even a football-specific statistic. We hope you enjoy.

You’ve no doubt seen the Kick Six by now. And if you’re an Alabama fan, you probably don’t ever want to see it again.

The decisions that led up to that unforgettable Iron Bowl finish have been studied, dissected and relitigated many times in the last 12 years, including in this space. Thus, our topic today is not “Got a second, Nick?” or “There goes Davis!,” but the now largely forgotten play that should be remembered as among the most amazing in Crimson Tide football history.

Alabama had won back-to-back national championships in 2011 and 2012, and by the end of the 2013 regular season had put itself in position for an unprecedented third in a row. The Crimson Tide was 11-0 and ranked No. 1 nationally heading into its showdown with fourth-ranked Auburn (10-1) at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Nov. 30, 2013.

The two teams played to a 21-21 deadlock after three quarters, before a punt by Auburn’s Steven Clark pinned Alabama at its 1-yard line with 10:42 to play. The Crimson Tide then went right to the air.

Quarterback AJ McCarron executed a play-action fake to running back TJ Yeldon, dropped into his own end zone, then turned to throw as tight end Brian Vogler and fullback Jalston Fowler picked up a leaping Dee Ford with a double-team block. Amari Cooper ran an out-and-up against Auburn cornerback Jonathan Mincy, breaking into the clear just before the ball arrived at the Alabama 38.

Cooper made the catch, then shook off a tackle by Auburn safety Jermaine Whitehead at the 41. Whitehead spun to the ground into the legs of the trailing Mincy, allowing Cooper to break into the clear.

The Alabama receiver jogged the rest of the way to the end zone for the touchdown, giving Alabama a 28-21 lead on what remains the longest play from scrimmage in Crimson Tide football history. McCarron raced down the field with his fist in the air, reaching Cooper to celebrate with him in the end zone.

Here’s video from the SEC on CBS broadcast, with Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson on the call:

Alabama would not score again in the game, with its final three possessions ending in a turnover on downs at the Auburn 13, a blocked 44-yard field goal and, of course, the Kick Six. Auburn tied the game on Nick Marshall’s 39-yard touchdown pass to Sammie Coates with 32 seconds remaining, then a short time later perfectly executed Chris Davis’ 100-plus-yard return of Adam Griffith’s missed 57-yard field goal for the most improbable finish in Iron Bowl history. McCarron to Cooper is the only 90-plus-yard touchdown from scrimmage in Iron Bowl history, with Joe Cribbs’ 87-yard scoring run in 1977 the next-longest. In fact, Cooper has Alabama’s two longest Iron Bowl touchdowns on plays from scrimmage, also scoring on a 75-yard pass from Blake Sims in a 55-44 victory in 2014.

Had Alabama won the 2013 Iron Bowl and gone on to a third straight national championship, McCarron to Cooper would have been remembered as one of the defining plays in the program’s history. It would live forever in highlight montages and likely would have been the subject in a Daniel Moore painting.

Instead, the play has been swallowed up by all that happened in the 10-plus minutes of game time afterward. It’s a footnote.

The longest touchdown from scrimmage in Iron Bowl history has been consigned to the proverbial dustbin, along with other great-but-fleeting Crimson Tide moments. It’s a list that includes Dwayne Rudd’s go-ahead interception return in the 1993 SEC championship game vs. Florida, Jalen Hurts’ 30-yard touchdown run late in the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship Game vs. Clemson and Jaylen Waddle’s four-touchdown masterpiece in the 2019 Iron Bowl.

The one thing all those have in common is that Alabama lost the game. It’s a sad fact of college football — and competitive sports in general — that great performances that occur in wins have much more staying power than those that do not.

But AJ McCarron’s 99-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper is a marvel of execution — from the block, to the pass, to the catch, to the run. And it shouldn’t be forgotten simply because an even longer and more well-carried-out touchdown occurred several minutes later.

Coming Saturday: Our countdown continues with No. 98, the last Iron Bowl ever played at Legion Field.

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Gulf Shores’ newest restaurant serves up Alabama poutine, plenty of seafood

Alabama Poutine? Yes, please. Just because we’re at the beach doesn’t mean we can’t salute our neighbors far to the north.

For those not in the know, poutine is a Canadian dish. It’s kind of surprising that it isn’t commonplace in the Deep South, because it falls squarely into the category of, “What can we put gravy on next?” In this case, a pile of French fries and cheese curds.

For whatever reason – the scarcity of cheese curds, perhaps – it remains a rarity and I was surprised to see any version of it on the menu at a brand-new Gulf Shores eatery, The Catch. Let alone a version that offered up “crispy fries smothered in our signature crawfish gravy.”

Maybe that sounds more like something that should be called Louisiana Poutine, but why quibble? It made for a tasty appetizer, and a pretty one, at least before I got my hands on it.

That’s fitting, because you wouldn’t want to eat anything ugly or bland-looking at a place like this. While The Catch is new, it occupies a familiar and prominent space in Gulf Shores. It’s the result of a rebranding of the former Burro Azul on West Beach Boulevard.

Burro Azul did offer fish and shrimp tacos and such, but General Manager Kristin Cochran explained that the operators bowed to customers’ wishes for more seafood. “Everybody asks for it,” she said.

That is certainly understandable. The restaurant is a very beachy-feeling place: It’s bright, airy, open, and directly across from public parking for West Gulf Place beach access, meaning you can see Gulf waters and plenty of strolling vacationers from where you sit. It’s elevated, like many of the area’s beach homes and condos, a reminder that the water doesn’t always stay over yonder.

After some freshening up of the site and development of the new menu in the off-season, The Catch opened at the end of February. Cochran said the staff has continued to adjust the cuisine based on customer feedback and kitchen creativity. “It’s all really happening day by day,” she said.

“We wanted something initially with really good seafood but also like a good vibe,” Cochran said. “A place where you can sit, the view is always pretty, the beach air is coming in and out, someplace you can come straight from the beach in your bathing suit if you want to have a drink. At night you can dress up for dinner, but we try to make it just very a chill place but with good food.”

“I think we have some of the best seafood boils on the island, and that is something not everybody does,” she said. “We sell a lot of crab boils, seafood boils. We have a shrimp boil, a lobster boil. And we have a special sauce we make that goes on our boil and with the broth we boil it in. We use wild-caught Gulf shrimp. We hand-batter everything here, so nothing’s frozen in batter.”

Another specialty is The Catch’s Crawfish Creole Cream Sauce, which Cochran said is made in-house. You can get it on a range of entrees, including the blackened Creole Snapper Delight ($25), the Classic Fish & Grits with blackened grouper ($25), the Southern Shrimp & Grits ($22) and the Bayou Crawfish Pasta ($25).

Let’s be clear, they don’t just put that stuff on everything. Entrees include grilled salmon, seafood platters, chicken tenders and Island Coconut Shrimp with pineapple pico ($22); several salads; and a selection of po-boys, seafood sandwiches and burgers.

The boils that Cochran mentioned start with the Gulf Shrimp Boil ($35) with a pound of Gulf shrimp plus Conecuh sausage and fixings, finished in Old Bay garlic butter. You can get a boil built around a pound of snow crab legs for $36, or the Grand Gulf Seafood Boil with crab legs, shrimp, mussels and Conecuh for $40. The flagship is the Spiny Lobster Boil ($45).

On my first visit, because I can’t resist a stunt, I went with the Surf & Turf Burger ($20, with fries). It’s a fully dressed double-decker cheeseburger layered with grilled shrimp. And because that might not sound rich enough, it’s then drizzled with — yes! — that Creole crawfish cream sauce.

It is a thing to behold. And when you bite into it, there’s a lot going on: The shrimp are big, fat and flavorful enough that they aren’t overwhelmed by all the beef. The crawfish sauce doesn’t exactly bind it all together: It’s more like a third partner in the dance. If you turned a Mardi Gras float into a burger, this would be it.

All in all, the successor to the Burro Azul seems to be poised to enjoy a good summer season. Certainly, it’ll be hard for visitors to say there’s not enough seafood on the menu.

The Catch, which is affiliated with the Hangout Hospitality Group, recently shut down so its kitchen could provide catering services to the inaugural Sand in My Boots Festival. The restaurant reopened on Thursday, May 22. Now that Memorial Day weekend and the official start of the summer season are here, things should be back on full boil.

The Catch is at 300 W. Beach Blvd in Gulf Shores. For more information, visit thecatch.com.

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Huntsville council approves $446,000 increase for VBC concert hall renovations

The renovation of the Von Braun Center’s Mark C. Smith Concert Hall is a little more expensive than city leaders originally thought.

The Huntsville City Council approved a $446,000 change order for the back of the house renovations on Thursday night. The change order pushed the total cost of the renovations to more than $16.5 million.

According to documents, the increase in the cost is due “unforeseen conditions.” Among the issues mentioned in the documents include sewer line corrections, plumbing and kitchen roof drains.

“They had a change in scope that was due to sewer and electrical changes that were unexpected in the construction when they were working on this,” City Finance Director Penny Smith said.

District 4 City Councilman Bill Kling asked if the funding for the change order would come out of the city liquor and lodging tax “instead of the city having to appropriate it.”

“It does, actually,” Smith responded. “The city manages the debt for the Von Braun Civic Center. This is part of the debt issuance that was actually taken up in February. It will be pulled into that debt. They’ve had some savings in some other places within that larger debt we pulled, about $30 million for various constructions across the VBC renovations.

The council approved upgrades to the concert hall last year to attract bigger theater performances. The upgrades included building an extension to the back of the concert hall and enlarging the VBC kitchen, according to the contract agreement between the city and Turner Construction Company.

The extension was needed, city officials said, because certain productions had significant props that could not go in the concert hall without the upgrades. The project also includes expanding the green room to make room for more actors, musicians and performers, as well as upgrades to the Playhouse and the Saturn Ballroom.

Other council action

• The council also approved an almost $625,000 agreement with Garver, LLC, to provide right-of-way acquisition services on 40 tracts of land for Winchester Road improvements between Naugher Road to Dominion Circle. The project is funded by the Metropolitan Planning Organization with 80% being federal funds and 20% being City funds in a total not-to-exceed contract amount of $45,186.28. According to the Alabama Department of Transportation report in March, the widening project is expected to start in Fiscal 2026 at a cost of $28 million.
• The council also approved a $116,399 agreement with Garver for design services for phase one of the Mooresville sanitary sewer interceptor project consisting of the installation of 4,200 feet of sanitary sewer line parallel to Piney Creek to serve residential development in the area.
• The council also approved a $28,750 contract with The Ferguson Group for grant writing services for the Resolute Way Interstate 565 interchange. Design is still in the works for the project, according to a District 5 report from Council President John Meredith. It would be a full access interchange at exit 13 (Madison Boulevard) that would improve safety and efficient travel to Redstone Arsenal, Cummings Research Park and Governors West. The estimated cost of the project is $60 million.

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Which Alabama football positions have the most to prove in 2025?

Alabama football’s roster looks deeper across the board ahead of Kalen DeBoer’s second season at head coach. However, the Crimson Tide still has questions at certain positions, some of which won’t be answered until the games begin in 2025.

The Tide won’t begin preseason camp until early August, ahead of its Aug. 30 season-opening trip to Florida State. As the offseason continues, here’s a look at which Alabama position groups have the most to prove this year.

Tight end

Alabama lost the majority of its tight end snaps to the NFL, with Robbie Ouzts and CJ Dippre both out of eligibility. Then, injuries struck both ahead of and during spring football, leaving Jay Lindsey as the lone scholarship player at the position.

As the Crimson Tide enters camp, it could be a battle for reps. Josh Cuevas returns, along with Danny Lewis Jr., with both players looking to take the starting role.

There’s two new transfer additions as well, with Brody Dalton coming from Troy and Jack Sammarco from West Virginia. The freshman group includes two tight ends also, in Marshall Pritchett and Kaleb Edwards.

Whoever sees the field, Alabama could use a bit more from the position. The group has talent, but will have to demonstrate an ability to make a difference once the games begin.

Running back

It’s been a while since Alabama has had a superstar at running back. After Jahmyr Gibbs headed to the NFL following the 2022 season, Jase McClellan was serviceable in 2023, and Jam Miller followed in his footsteps last year.

Miller is back, but the Tide’s other main RB from 2024, Justice Haynes, transferred to Michigan. Miller will look to make more of a difference in 2025, behind an offensive line that lost Tyler Bookr to the NFL Draft and Elijah Pritchett to the transfer portal, but will have continuity elsewhere.

2025 could also be a big season for Richard Young. After sitting down the depth chart for the early years of his Alabama career, he could see significant carries this season.

Besides those two, Daniel Hill and transfer addition Dre Washington will compete for snaps. The entire group will need to step up if Alabama is to return to anywhere near its grand RB tradition.

Linebacker

Besides the loss of Jihaad Campbell, the Crimson Tide has some continuity here. However, the “besides” is enormous at linebacker.

Deontae Lawson returns, and will need to show he has rebounded completely after a knee injury ended his 2024. Justin Jefferson got an extra year of eligibility unexpectedly, and could be primed to step up in a big way with more snaps in Campbell’s absence.

Nikhai Hill-Green could be a solid depth piece at linebacker, and UA could also see freshman competing to get on the field. Duke Johnson, Luke Metz and Abduall Sanders all looked solid on A-Day to end spring practice.

Campbell was one of the best defensive players in the nation last season. Now it’s up to the current crop of linebackers to make sure Alabama doesn’t get measurably worse at their position.

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Miss Manners: Is it rude to miss a funeral due to illness?

DEAR MISS MANNERS: What’s the polite, kind thing to do when one must miss a funeral for reasons such as illness or injury?

My aunt’s mother just passed away, and the funeral is in a few days. However, I’ve come down with a bad cold and, in the interest of not making others sick, I plan not to attend unless I recover far faster than expected.

I want my aunt to know that I care enough to attend, but I don’t want to make this about me. Is a text appropriate? A note after the funeral?

GENTLE READER: Assuming that you have already written a condolence letter, a phone call would be more personal than a text — and more polite than a note afterwards, when everyone will have wondered where you were.

“I am so sorry that I won’t be able to attend, but I’m afraid I have a dreadful cold and I don’t want anyone to catch it,” you might say. It goes without saying, Miss Manners hopes, that you avoid using hyperbole (e.g., “I’m feeling deathly ill”) for obvious reasons.

Please send your questions to Miss Manners at missmanners.com, by email to [email protected], or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

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This week in HS Sports: Bill Griffin retiring from McGill-Toolen after 4 decades

This is an opinion piece.

Few people have given more to one school than Bill Griffin has to McGill-Toolen Catholic.

Including the time when he was a student, Griffin has spent four decades at the Mobile school in multiple roles.

He retires this week after 36 years as a teacher and administrator, the last 15 as athletic director.

“I think I’ll miss it a little,” Griffin said. “I won’t miss the grind of the day-to-day. I will certainly miss cheering for the kids and all the relationships, but I hope many of those will continue.”

Griffin’s various roles at McGill have included freshman football coach, head softball coach and assistant athletic director. He also spent one season (2003) as the school’s head football coach. He was followed in that role by none other than Steve Savarese.

Griffin spent only one season of his adult life away from McGill. He taught for one year at Forrest Hill Elementary and coached freshman football at Shaw High School.

But McGill always has been home.

“It’s special,” he said. “You have to kind of live through it to understand it. It truly is a family. You get to know the people you work with on a personal level. You have tremendous support in the alumni community since McGill is one of the three original schools in Mobile. Obviously, the kids are awesome.”

Like most retiring coaches, Griffin said the student-athletes have always made his time rewarding.

“The kids who played for me … I love to see them come back,” he said. “Obviously, a lot of them are adults now and they will come back and ask if I remember certain things. At the time, you may not think they are hearing you but later you realize most of them did. That means a lot.”

Griffin said his goal when he took over as AD in 2010 was to try and provide enough resources for the McGill sports that had not won state championships to bring home a banner. Seven of them – football, boys basketball, baseball, indoor track, boys and girls swimming and girls soccer – have done just that.

In good times and a few challenging times, Griffin always has returned my phone calls, and that means a lot to a journalist. I haven’t seen him much – if ever — without a smile, and that’s a sign that he loved his job, his school and the people he worked around.

I’m not sure that I 100 percent believe in the saying “if you find a job you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” I have to believe there are tough days in every job. But I do believe in Colossians 3:23-24 which reads, “Whatever you do, work at it with all year heart, as working for the Lord, not human masters, since you know you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.”

I’m going to guess Bill Griffin did just that.

In retirement, he said he and wife Alice, who is retiring as well, will travel and do some things together.

“It’s on to the next adventure in our life,” he said.

Enjoy it, Coach.

Thought for the Week

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” – James 1:2-3

Ben Thomas is the high school managing producer at AL.com. He has been named one of the 50 legends of the Alabama Sports Writers Association. Follow him on twitter at @BenThomasPreps or email him at [email protected].

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Green Bay Packers feel former Alabama running back’s ‘presence’

When the Green Bay Packers signed Josh Jacobs as an NFL free agent last offseason, they got more than a Pro Bowl running back. They got a “presence,” Packers running back Ben Sirmans said.

“The guy is a dog,” Sirmans said from Green Bay’s offseason program, “not just the way he carries the ball, but also just his presence. Being around really good running backs, they have a presence about them on the field that kind of permeates throughout the team through their game play as well as when they’re in the locker room. Because besides the quarterback, you’re touching the ball probably more than anybody else out there, so you can affect the emotions of the team more than anybody else.

“He’s been everything that we would hope for and definitely the engine for us offensively.”

The Packers feel Jacobs’ presence at practice as well as games, Sirman said.

“The guy looks better this year than he did last year at this point,” Sirmans said. “His quickness right now, his cutting ability, going through drills, exploding, he looks better this year than last year at this time. …

“The way that he practices is the same way that he plays. He’s looking to set the tone every opportunity that he gets and to try to get people to follow and match that type of mentality. It’s hard-pressed to try to take things away from him from that standpoint, but we do have to be conscious because once he’s in there, he’s in there even in practice situations to set the tone for everybody else.”

RELATED: JOSH JACOBS ON FORMER AUBURN QB: ‘GREAT DUDE FIRST AND FOREMOST’

Last offseason, Jacobs joined the Packers for a four-year, $48 million contract after the former Alabama ball-carrier spent his first five NFL seasons with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders.

Jacobs ran for 1,329 yards and 15 touchdowns on 301 carries and caught 36 passes for 342 yards and one touchdown in 2024. In his fourth 1,000-yard season, Jacobs received his third Pro Bowl invitation.

Jacobs became the first Green Bay player with 300 rushing attempts since Ryan Grant in 2008. Five Packers have carried the football at least 300 times in one season, with Ahman Green doing so twice.

Jacobs recorded the fifth-most rushing yards in Green Bay history in 2024 and had the most since Green set the franchise single-season record with 1,883 in 2003.

Jacobs tied for the third-most rushing touchdowns in one season in the team record book.

The Packers posted an 11-6 regular-season record in the 2024 regular season before falling to the Philadelphia Eagles 22-10 in the first round of the NFC playoffs.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

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

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