Tide players stuck together through tough offseason

TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA - Even Jarret Johnson expected a few of his Alabama teammates to jump ship after the program was leveled by NCAA sanctions. It didn&#39;t happen. <br> <br> ``To be honest, I&#39;m really shocked,&#39;&#39; the All-Southeastern Conference defensive tackle said Wednesday. ``I really expected some people to leave and for everybody to stay, I was excited. <br> <br> ``It&#39;s kind of comforting to see that the players are that comfortable with the team and are so happy here, even though we&#39;re on probation.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Under NCAA rules, the juniors and seniors could have left for another school without having to sit out because of the two-year postseason ban, but instead they&#39;re getting ready for two-a-days to start on Aug. 5. <br> <br> ``I don&#39;t think (transferring) crossed anyone&#39;s mind,&#39;&#39; senior quarterback Tyler Watts said. ``I think we all pretty much had the attitude, &#39;If you want to leave, leave, because we don&#39;t want you here, anyway. <br> <br> ``People don&#39;t even joke around about it. It&#39;s just, we&#39;re going to continue to go about our business and not worry about anything else.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Besides two-a-days, their reward for staying will be a season-ending trip to the islands to play the University of Hawaii. <br> <br> ``With us leaving and not really having a chance to go out with a bigtime bowl game, this is probably the next best thing that could happen to us,&#39;&#39; senior tailback Ahmaad Galloway said. <br> <br> ``That shows the seniors a lot, that you have a coaching staff and an athletic director that will fight for you. You&#39;ve got a team of people working very hard. It&#39;s kind of hard to walk away from that.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Coach Dennis Franchione asked the team to vote on whether to play that 13th game, ``and before I finished the sentence, every hand was up,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> ``Some players came up to me after the meeting and said, &#39;Coach, we want to thank you for doing this,&#39;&#39;&#39; Franchione said. <br> <br> The NCAA will hear Alabama&#39;s appeal of the sanctions on Aug. 16. They&#39;re not eligible to play in the Southeastern Conference championship game, but at least want to earn the trip to the Georgia Dome on the field. <br> <br> ``I think it&#39;s safe to say we want the best team to not be in Atlanta,&#39;&#39; Franchione said. <br> <br> TIDE BITS: Franchione said academic counselor Jon Dever told him only five players still have work to do in the second summer session to be eligible, but only two are in serious jeopardy. ``John said this is the best shape he&#39;s seen us in at this point in time in a long, long time,&#39;&#39; Franchione said. ... Wide receiver Antonio Carter, who was academically ineligible for the Independence Bowl, completed the necessary work in the first summer session.

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