Greg McElroy has message for Alabama fans blaming referees for loss to Tennessee

After losing to Tennessee for the first time in the Nick Saban era, fans began loudly blaming the game’s referees for the loss. It doesn’t take too much difficulty to understand where they’re coming from, with an obvious missed facemask call and a pass interference that erased an interception. The Crimson Tide were called for 17 penalties for 130 yards too. So, objectively, you can see where passionate fans are coming from. However, former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy has a message for those fans.

Now an analyst for ESPN, Greg McElroy said that it isn’t fair to blame the referees in this game because Alabama has been making these mistakes all season.

“Alabama fans, I’m sure I’ll receive some of the blame,” Greg McElroy joked. “I mean, they are not afraid to spew a little hatred and vitriol when their team comes up short.”

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“But here’s the takeaway, if you’re Alabama. If it were a one-game anomaly with the penalties and the miscues and the mistakes, I think you’d be fair to say it just wasn’t our day, right? It was–you know, the officials had it hard on us. It was tough,” Greg McElroy continued.

“Yeah, understandable, for sure. But, then again, when you look at it, man, I mean this has now kind of become a theme with mistakes, penalties, lack of composure, pre-snap penalties, you know pass interference has been a real problem all year long. And there were calls throughout the game, on both sides I might add, that I disagreed with. But, then again, that’s the human element of the game.”

The point that Greg McElroy is making here is that you can’t blame the referees in one game for something you’ve done all season long. Even if those referees are having a tough night, you still can’t blame them because it’s part of the game. As McElroy then went on to point out, as a competitor, you never want to leave it up to referees.

“If the game is left up to the referees, and if the referee’s decision impacts the outcome, that’s our fault. Ultimately, the players aren’t gonna sit there and go, ‘Man, those refs got us, man.’ No, that’s something that a lot of fans will react to, and understandably so.”

Greg McElroy wrapped his point up by saying that players can’t be looking for excuses. Fans can look for excuses, but players can’t. They need to find solutions. Their focus needs to be internal.

“What you can control is your execution, your performance, and your own personal emotions.”