Terrion Arnold gives pointed take on early-season criticism from former Alabama players

Alabama got off to a rough start to the 2023 season, and some former players made it clear they were unhappy.

The Crimson Tide suffered a 34-24 loss to Texas in Week 2 and were tied with USF 3-3 at halftime the following week.

Alabama defensive back Terrion Arnold joined The Paul Finebaum Show on Tuesday and shared that this year’s Alabama team didn’t appreciate the criticism from former players earlier this season.

“Obviously, when you see guys that you grew up watching and guys that have been in your shoes before, when you watch them, or you go and look at them say stuff about you, I’m one of those guys, I don’t have Twitter. The thing I’ve got is Instagram. So I didn’t really see those comments. But for my teammates to bring it up to us and kind of it get in the locker room, it kind of disheartened us,” Arnold said. “It’s obviously like, ‘Man, you’re supposed to be right here with us, and you guys have been in our shoes before. So if anything, you guys should be encouraging us with the adversity that we’re trying to go through right now.’”

It wasn’t just former Alabama players but also the Crimson Tide fanbase that was criticizing this year’s team after a rough start to the year.

“The USF situation as far as just seeing how people treated us after that in this fanbase and with our fans, the model I’ve been preaching to the guys – ‘We all we got, we all we need.’ And that’s something that we’re continuing to see with the growth. I feel like we haven’t played our best football yet,” Arnold said.

Ever since the close call with USF, Alabama has impressed. The Crimson Tide have won eight straight games since falling to Texas in Week 2, including wins over ranked opponents Ole Miss, Tennessee and LSU.

The criticism from early on in the season has turned into praise, but Arnold hasn’t forgotten what was said a couple of months back.

“It was more than one. It was definitely like a bunch of different shots. And obviously coach [Nick] Saban, he got asked about it in a couple of things. And in the team meeting that we had, he kind of addressed it and just said, ‘You know, the guys that came before us, that was them. And this is now. Obviously it’s a whole different generation, a whole different era of football. And we have to stay where we’re at right now,'” Arnold recalled.

“I love it, because I’m one of those guys, I never forget what anybody says. … I’m one of those guys, I don’t forget. I don’t forget at all. So I mean I can dap you up, smile in your face, but ultimately, when you were dissing us or saying what you were saying behind our back, it’s kind of like, ‘Yea, I remember that. I remember it.’”