Nick Saban addresses incident between Jermaine Burton and Tennessee fan

Video surfaced Wednesday of Alabama wide receiver Jermaine Burton appearing to strike a female Tennessee fan after last week’s game at Neyland Stadium. Nick Saban released a statement Wednesday afternoon, and he provided a further update during his press conference later in the day.

Saban said everything will be handled within the program, just as he does with every disciplinary action. He also talked about what the SEC is doing to control fans rushing the field, but acknowledged the need to deal with that situation appropriately.

“We handle discipline issues internally, and that’s the way we’ll handle this,” Saban said. “But as I said today, when I was asked about the whole — the league has tried to control people rushing the field. It’s a difficult circumstance for the league, it’s difficult circumstances for the people on the field. But we’ve got to go through those difficult circumstances and still respect other people, and I think that’s on us to do that and that’s certainly a lesson for all of us to learn relative to this.”

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TMZ reported at least two alleged incidents involving Burton after the game. Fans stormed the field after Tennessee knocked off Alabama 52-49 thanks to a walk-off field goal by Chase McGrath, and Crimson Tide players were in the middle of it as they tried to get to the locker room.

In the first video, which was posted on TikTok with the caption, “Jermaine Burton smacking me in the head while walking past him after their loss Saturday,” a player walks past the field-storming Tennessee fan with his arm stretched out. It is important to note that Alabama features two players who wear No. 3, but the blurry pictures do not appear to resemble defensive back Terrion Arnold.

In another alleged incident, a fan taking video from on the field runs past Burton – who is seen more clearly in front of the camera – before the camera turns and shakes momentarily. A fan later posted it with the caption, “Jermaine Burton punching a Tennessee fan after the ‘Bama loss.”

After the videos spread across social media, Saban responded to the allegations against Burton with what he knows and what Alabama is doing about it at this time.

“We are aware of the situation with Jermaine Burton as he was exiting the field Saturday,” Saban said in a press release. “We are currently working to gather more information.”

Burton is in his first year with Alabama after arriving from Georgia via the transfer portal over the offseason. After entering the portal, Burton became the No. 6-ranked transfer to hit the open market, according to the 2021 On3 Transfer Portal Rankings, and was part of a highly touted transfer class for Alabama.

In seven appearances this season, he has 18 receptions for 266 yards and three touchdowns as one of Bryce Young’s top targets.

On3’s James Fletcher III contributed to this report.