Former Alabama wide receiver Chris Black’s football career never took off in Tuscaloosa due to injuries, and Black himself seems to feel that he didn’t receive much of a chance to work his way back into the offense, according to a recent interview.
“I always felt like the system didn’t fit my type of skill set,” Black told GN contributor John Acree.
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“They never really gave me a chance to make it back into it,” he said.
Black arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2012 as a four-star freshman from Jacksonville and turned some heads as a redshirt sophomore in 2014, when he caught 15 passes for 188 yards. He was expected to see a greater role in 2015, but an ankle injury put a stop to that and he caught two passes in six games before undergoing surgery and announcing last month that he would transfer elsewhere for his final season of eligibility.
It’s heartbreaking to hear from Black, who said in the interview that he felt “like I’ve been caged for the past three years,” but to criticize Alabama’s staff for not giving him a chance to come back from injury can’t fully be blamed on the staff itself. The SEC is the most competitive conference in college football and Nick Saban’s offense is very particular. If Black wasn’t a fit at the beginning and didn’t adjust accordingly, there wasn’t really a spot for him. Long story short, Saban was playing to win and Black didn’t increase Alabama’s chances of doing so.
Hopefully, Black finds a new home soon and can end his collegiate career on a high note.
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*Featured Photo (above) credit to USA TODAY Sports
