Bryce Young, Will Anderson reveal why they're playing in Sugar Bowl

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama will have have its star duo participating in the Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31. On Friday, news broke that quarterback Bryce Young and outside linebacker Will Anderson Jr., both projected top-10 picks in the upcoming NFL draft, would be participating in the bowl game.

Obviously, that’s fantastic news. However, it did leave some wondering what went into those decisions. There’s always the risk of injury when playing, and neither player have anything left to prove. Well, that doesn’t matter to them. They’re competitors, and they want to play.

Anderson was the first to explain his reasoning to reporters on Monday.

“It was all just about leadership and being here for the team,” Anderson said. “I’ve been preaching so much over these last two years about how to do things the right way, the standard around here and how to uphold the standard. It wouldn’t be right for me to walk out on my teammates. I think that’s a big reason why I decided to play in this game and play with those guys.”

For anyone who knows Anderson, he isn’t one to just talk-the-talk. He’s always been willing to do everything is his power to walk-the-walk, too. This is just another example of that. After putting up 204 tackles, 58.5 tackles for loss and 34.5 sacks over the last three years, the star pass rusher isn’t done yet.

Neither is Young.

On Monday, the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner talked about taking the opportunity to get to play with his brothers one more time. A lot of these guys, including Anderson, have been there with Young since his arrival on campus in the summer of 2020. They’ll never get to play with each other again after this, and that’s important to him.

“I wanted to finish with my teammates this season,” Young said. “There’s a lot of work, a lot that’s gone into this year, and I just get another chance to play with my brothers. That’s really how I look at it. This is a great opportunity for us as a team, for me, for all of us, and we’ve all had each other’s backs all year. It’s been about accountability, about making sure that we’re holding ourselves to our standards, and that’s words that we all live by, that I live by.

“So for me, it was easy. It’s another opportunity to go out there and play with my brothers. Again, I’m grateful for the chance we have, for the opportunity we all have – individuals and as a team. This is a huge opportunity. This is a big game to play against a really, really good team. We have a lot that we wanna prove to ourselves, there’s a lot that we wanna accomplish as a team and I’m just happy to have another chance to play with my guys.”

So for him, the decision was easy.

Young is already second in school history in career passing yards with 8,035. He’s also only two away (75) from tying A.J. McCarron for the second-most touchdown passes in a career (77). The 6-foot, 194-pound quarterback has been wildly successful in Tuscaloosa, but like Anderson, he’ll get one more game to add to those totals.

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